J.T. KUENDIGExplorer of Hidden Power and Its Consequences

As I wrote The Good Club, I imagined five billionaires taking control not just of the U.S. government, but of the entire world. Plausible, perhaps…possible, no, not yet. But there’s no doubt that billionaires today are capable of influencing government actions.

How Citizens United Transformed Political Spending

Perhaps the biggest catalyst for the wealthy to influence the government was Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Citizens United opened the door to unlimited independent political spending by corporations and unions, and the Super PAC system that followed gave wealthy individuals another vehicle for putting enormous sums into elections.

This chart from the Nov. 20, 2025 Washington Post shows the donations by the top ten wealthy individuals and families:

Rank: Billionaire(s): 2015–2024 political spending

1. Miriam & Sheldon Adelson: $658 million
2. Michael Bloomberg: $573 million
3. Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein: $507 million
4. Ken Griffin: $500 million
5. George Soros: $321 million
6. Jeff & Janine Yass: $310 million
7. Elon Musk: $295 million
8. Tom Steyer & Kat Taylor: $278 million
9. Dustin Moskovitz & Cari Tuna: $161 million
10. J.B. & M.K. Pritzker: $160 million

Let’s look at some additional numbers.

• In 2024, 150 billionaire families contributed a record $1.9 billion.
• So far in the 2026 midterm election cycle, the fifty largest donors—individuals, families, and organizations—have contributed more than $1.69 billion.

How Wealthy Donors Turn Money into Political Influence

Why do wealthy people donate? When I ran a business, I always looked for a payback. Some billionaires also get results. For example:

• Michael Bloomberg, through Bloomberg Philanthropies, invested almost $1 billion in organizations and partners, resulting in 185 anti-tobacco legislation in 94 countries. Not really a donation, but you get the idea.
• Sean Parker spent $8.6 million to legalize marijuana in California. Proposition 64 passed.

Whether you agree with their causes or not, they still show wealthy power shaping legislation. I’m sure there are more, but they are few and far between.

What about the others? How do they achieve payback? Again, when I ran a marketing business, I knew that walking my clients’ halls gave me the opportunity to network and make an impression. I would go into my client’s office and ask them if there’s a project they can’t get to. I would volunteer to do it, at no charge. When the big project comes along, we had a better chance of getting it. I was “buying influence.”

The easy answer then is that wealthy people might be trying to buy influence.

Studies have shown we all have one vote, but we don’t all have the same amount of influence. Cambridge.org published a study that says, “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups…have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”

Russell Sage’s study came up with similar findings: “Constituents at the 75^th percentile of the income distribution have almost three times as much influence on senators’ general voting patterns as those at the 25^th percentile.”

Influence isn’t always direct. George Soros, for example, has built a large institutional network that can influence politics and public policy through several different channels. Soros’ network has funded foundations, advocacy organizations, lawyers, policy groups, and local organizations that try to affect the political environment.

Remember, this approach lives on and doesn’t have to be replicated with each election or legislative process.

Dark Money, Political Access, and Media Influence

But what about the money that can’t be traced back to the donor? Here’s where we enter the world of dark money. Remember the five members of The Good Club…Govern the governors. They preferred to be anonymous. Like those members, dark money is money spent to influence elections or public policy when the original source is hidden from the public.

Harlan Crow is the chairman of Crow Holdings. A generous Republican supporter was quoted once saying, “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose.” In May 2025, The Brennan Center reported that during the 2024 federal election cycle, an estimated $1.9 billion in political spending came from sources whose original donors were hidden from the public.

Another opportunity for the wealthy to influence is direct access. Campaign donations are reportable. Telephone conversations, dinners, introductions, and advice are not. And when the wealthy and ordinary citizens disagree about government policy, the preferences of the wealthy are disproportionately likely to be reflected in what government ultimately does. Does direct contact make a difference?

Recently, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was accused of accepting gifts from Harlan Crow, including private jet trips and superyacht visits, and of selling family property to Crow. No evidence of influence or tampering. Just a good friend relating to a good friend. You get the idea.

Wealth can also affect the media that influences you and me:

• In October 2024, the Washington Post was prepared to endorse Kamala Harris for president. Jeff Bezos decided not to publish the endorsement.
• The same happened at the Los Angeles Times when it was prepared to endorse Harris. Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the endorsement.

The evidence doesn’t show that billionaires simply buy legislation. Government doesn’t work that neatly, but it does reveal something harder to dismiss: when affluent Americans and ordinary Americans want different things from government, Washington has historically been considerably more responsive to the affluent.

How? Campaign contributions are one possibility. Lobbying is another. Access to politicians. Think tanks and advocacy organizations. Media influence.

Could it be that campaign contributions are a problem in the U.S.? I don’t know. You tell me. Is it a problem when:

• One billionaire’s average political contribution is equal to about 100,000 typical political donors?
• Major donors have greater opportunities to reach policymakers?
• Wealthy donors put enormous resources behind candidates and ballot measures?
• Wealthy individuals own media institutions that help shape what millions of people see and hear?

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“Kuendig knows how to turn contemporary fear into propulsion, and even when the book overspeaks, it keeps asking the kind of lurid, anxious what-if questions that make pages disappear.”

~ Scott Olsen, Manhattan Book Review