8 Richest People That Don’t Make Political Contributions
The majority of the richest people in America make political donations. Some donate to Republican candidates, others to Democrats and many to a mixture of both. However, there are some people who are among the richest in the world who elect not to get involved in making political contributions. I tend to think that this choice makes the most powerful statement of all!
According to a report on the blog All Financial Matters, the following eight people were the only people in the 2011 Top 50 list of Forbes Richest People who chose not to make any political contributions at least in recent years:
1. Larry Page. With a net worth of $15 billion, Larry Page of Google is tied with Sergey Brin for number 11 of the Forbes Richest People List. Beginning in April 2011 Page will start work as Google’s CEO.
2. Sergey Brin. Maybe it’s a Google thing not to contribute to money to political organizations considering that this second person on the list (and co-founder of Google) also got his $15 billion net worth from the company and also chooses not to contribute any of that money to politics. One of the things that both of these guys are known for is the fact that their annual salary is only $1 each, an action that makes a real political statement in my opinion!!
3. Jeff Bezos. With a net worth of $12.6 billion from his work at Amazon, Jeff Bezos is number 18 on the Forbes Richest People List and number 3 on the list of those people who choose not to make political contributions. Bezos formerly worked as a financial analyst so he knows something about money. Maybe he knows something that other folks on the list know about financially giving to politics?
4. Forrest Mars, Jr. This candy maker worth $10 billion is tied with John Mars and Jacqueline Mars for 26th richest person. Although the other Mars’ folks do make political contributions, Forrest Mars elects to refrain from that activity. As an aside, Mars’ net worth has declined by $1 billion in the past year!
5. Mark Zuckerberg.The famous Facebook star is worth $6.9 billion according to Forbes, placing him number 35 on the list of rich folks. None of that money is going towards political donations.
6. Blair Parry-Okedon.Blair Parry-Okedon of Cox Enterprises is worth $6.2 billion and does not give any of that money in the form of political donations. She is the only woman on this list of rich folks who don’t contribute to politics.
7. Steve Jobs. Maybe there’s something about the tech world that makes folks disinterested in donating their money to politics? Apple / Pixar guy Steve Jobs is worth $6.1 billion and falls just under Blair Parry-Okden at number 42 on the rich list.
8. Donald Newhouse. Donald Newhouse of the publishing industry sneaks into the Forbes Top 50 Richest list at #49 with his $5.4 billion net worth.
Do you have an opinion on those rich people who choose not to donate to politics? Is this a good thing a bad thing or neither?
