Wyss spent heavily to support pro-abortion ballot initiatives.
A progressive Swiss billionaire spent $57 million during the 2024 election cycle exploiting loopholes around foreign spending on American politics in order to promote left-wing causes.
From April 2024 to March 2025, billionaire Hansjorg Wyss poured $57 million into progressive activism and ballot measures, continuing his pattern of prolific spending on U.S. politics, according to new non-profit disclosure forms. He put $27 million of the funds into the Sixteen Thirty Fund, an entity tied to left-wing dark money network Arabella Advisors.
The American Civil Liberties Union, League of Conservation Voters, and other left-wing activist groups also received financial support from Wyss during that time period.
“Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss’ foreign dark money continues to infiltrate American politics. His Berger Action Fund spent almost $60 million to further his radical agenda, funding far left groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund and Indivisible,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, a right-leaning group that tracks dark money.
“Foreign nationals like Wyss are actively exploiting loopholes to funnel their foreign money into important American policy fights, institutions, and electoral tools.”
Wyss’s spending inspired a push across red states to restrict foreign spending on ballot measures. His spending has played an outsized role in ballot contests on abortion, election law, and other core issues for progressives.
The ballot initiatives have primarily been advanced in purple and red states where progressives typically do not perform well electorally. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, progressives successfully waged several pro-abortion ballot campaigns in toss-up states and GOP areas.
In total, Americans for Public Trust estimates Wyss has spent over $600 million to influence U.S. politics as a non-U.S. citizen. His primary vehicle for influencing U.S. election has been the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the entity Wyss has used to fund progressive ballot initiatives. His cumulative giving to the Sixteen Thirty Fund adds up to $305 million with the latest disclosures.
Foreigners are legally prohibited from funding candidates and political action committees, but Wyss appears to have found a loophole by funding shell entities and ballot campaigns. Wyss’s contributions to ballot initiates made him the target of a lawsuit from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R), who alleges Wyss violated state law.
The Berger Action Fund, one of the nonprofits Wyss uses to fund left-wing causes, told NR it steered money to progressive causes through legal means and did not put any money towards electoral activities.
“In 2024, the Berger Action Fund supported organizations working to address climate change, protect access to healthcare, promote economic opportunity, and bring increased transparency to our campaign finance system. Berger’s grants complied with laws and rules governing its charitable activities, and all grant funding was prohibited from being used to support or oppose political candidates or parties or other electoral activity,” the organization said in a statement.
Separately, Wyss has faced allegations of sexual misconduct directed towards employees, including a lawsuit filed last year detailing a pattern of serial sexual harassment against a co-worker almost 60 years his junior. The case was dismissed in August and it is unclear if Wyss agreed to a settlement. Wyss and the consortium of leftist groups implicated in the lawsuit have denied the allegations.
Due to conservative scrutiny, Arabella Advisors has rebranded and sold off parts of its business in recent months. It is unclear if the Sixteen Thirty Fund is part of Sunflower Services, the new corporation housing the fiscal-sponsorship aspect of Arabella’s old business. Arabella’s multi-billion dollar dark money network made it an enormous force in Democratic politics.
In September, President Trump directed his administration to investigate left-wing nonprofits linked to violent activism, an order that encompassed the funding vehicles for activist groups. Before that, Arabella lost the Gates Foundation and experienced pullback from other clients because of the possibility of getting ensnared in a federal investigation. Trump’s focus on investigating progressive nonprofits was inspired by the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose suspected assassin Tyler Robinson espoused left-wing views.
Editor’s note: The Berger Action Fund’s statement was added to this story after publication.