Free Republic

I was excited when I first heard that Peter Thiel was going to be a speaker at the Republican National Convention.  While everyone naturally focuses on what Trump and Pence will have to say, Thiel, often labeled an “eccentric billionaire,” could help rebrand the Trump-era GOP. Like Trump, Thiel is flamboyant and loves shaking things up.  Andrew Styles of Heat Street: Thiel, who is also a Trump delegate to the convention, is an interesting choice. In some ways, Thiel’s support for Trump makes a lot of sense. Both are billionaires who like to disrupt the sh*t out of the status...

Billionaire anti-fracking activist Tom Steyer has dramatically increased his political donations in four key legislative races in Colorado in an effort to push the state away from fossil fuels, according to federal and state campaign finance records. Steyer made three $200 personal contributions to Democrats in crucial state Senate races. Democratic senatorial candidates Rachel Zenzinger, Jenise May, and Daniel Kagan were the recipients of Steyer’s largesse. May and Kagan are running for open seats, while Zenzinger is trying to unseat an incumbent Republican. Big money donors like Steyer can contribute a maximum of $200 in Colorado to state House or...

Let’s for a second imagine a world without nuclear energy. That’s a tough one but let’s try. No nuclear bombs, of course, no Chernobyl and Fukushima, no worries about Iran and North Korea. A wonderful world, maybe? Probably not, because without nuclear energy we would have burned millions more tons of coal and billions more barrels of oil. This would have brought about climate change of such proportions that what we have today would have seemed negligible. Nuclear energy and uranium, which feeds it, are controversial enough even without any actual accident happening. Radioactivity is dangerous. Nobody is arguing against...

For Jeffrey Epstein and his famous friends, the Aughts were a simpler time, when the businessmen, academics, and celebrities who counted themselves among the playboy philanthropist’s inner circle could freely enjoy the fruits of his extreme wealth and connections. Epstein’s little black book and flight logs read like a virtual Who’s Who: Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Larry Summers, Kevin Spacey, Prince Andrew, and Naomi Campbell all hitched rides on Epstein’s private planes. Socialites and distinguished scientists went to visit Epstein’s island in St. Thomas, and cavorted at epic dinner parties at his palatial townhouse—then the largest privately owned residence in...

Depending on how much credence you give to "whisper listings," there are between 27 and 50 $100,000,000+ houses on the market; last year, only two houses in that bracket sold worldwide. The glut of super-duper-ultra-luxury houses on the market worries economy-watchers, who view the oversupply as a bellwether for a housing crash -- the last glut (which wasn't nearly as pronounced as the current one) was in 2007/8.

Donald Trump, who needs to rapidly raise money for the general election, now has a team of the Republican establishment's biggest donors and fundraisers in his corner. Trump and Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus announced in a statement Tuesday that they have signed onto their fundraising efforts some of the most prolific donors and fundraisers in conservative politics. The big name recruits include Woody Johnson — who owns the New York Jets and was a top fundraiser for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and previous GOP nominees Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) — and Diane Hendricks,...

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Koch has pledged “tens of millions of dollars” to help bankroll the campaign of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, according to a source within Johnson’s campaign. Koch’s money will be made available should Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, secure his second consecutive Libertarian Party presidential nomination, the source said. The Libertarians will select their presidential ticket during the party’s national convention later this month in Orlando.

Scandal: A new investigation reveals that Bill and Hillary Clinton took in at least $100 million from Middle East leaders. Can such a financially and ethically compromised candidate truly function as our nation’s leader? The investigation by the Daily Caller News Foundation has uncovered a disturbing pattern of the Clintons’ raising money for the Clinton Foundation from regimes that have checkered records on human rights and that aren’t always operating in the best interests of the U.S. By the way, the $100 million we mentioned above doesn’t appear to include another $30 million given to the Clintons by two Mideast-based...

Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund founded by billionaire James Simons, donated over $13 million to Sen. Ted Cruz’s failed presidential campaign. For a guy who’s supposed to be pretty smart with his money, the ROI on that one has got to sting. Nevertheless, now that Mr. Cruz is out of the race, Mr. Simons has begun pouring millions of dollars into Hillary Clinton‘s campaign, with Renaissance Technologies donating over $2 million to Ms. Clinton so far this election cycle. Euclidean Capital—also owned by Mr. Simons—has given the Clinton campaign over $7 million in contributions, and such figures are likely to...

enaissance Technologies, a hedge fund founded by billionaire James Simons, donated over $13 million to Sen. Ted Cruz’s failed presidential campaign. For a guy who’s supposed to be pretty smart with his money, the ROI on that one has got to sting. Nevertheless, now that Mr. Cruz is out of the race, Mr. Simons has begun pouring millions of dollars into Hillary Clinton‘s campaign, with Renaissance Technologies donating over $2 million to Ms. Clinton so far this election cycle. Euclidean Capital—also owned by Mr. Simons—has given the Clinton campaign over $7 million in contributions, and such figures are likely to...

Hillary Clinton cast Donald Trump as out of touch with the United States while campaigning Monday in Delaware, arguing that the Republican front-runner flies into states, gives speeches and then returns to the lap of luxury without listening to voters' problems. "Donald Trump says wages are too high in America and doesn't support raising the minimum wage and I have said, 'Come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people,'" Clinton said. "At some point, if you want to be president of the United States, you have to get familiar with the United States,...

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders rails against the “billionaire class” and has called income inequality “the greatest moral issue of our time,” but the senator from Vermont is “not exactly a man of modest means,” according to an article written by Kerri Anne Renzulli for the TIME magazine website. However, “nothing about Bernie’s net worth devalues his progressive beliefs,” stated Peter Daou, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton who responded on the Blue Nation Review website to reports that Sanders and his wife, Jane, could retire with an “effective retirement nest egg” valued at “nearly $2 million.”

First they spent tens of millions trying to boost their favorite presidential candidates, then they poured cash into ads attacking Donald Trump, and now some of the biggest donors on the right are turning their attention to the delegate fight. Anti-Trump billionaires are funding ground operations in an increasing number of states to try to ensure the selection of national convention delegates who oppose Trump. The strategy is being executed by the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC, which has a stated goal of blocking the bombastic billionaire from clinching the GOP presidential nomination before the party’s convention in July.

First they spent tens of millions trying to boost their favorite presidential candidates, then they poured cash into ads attacking Donald Trump, and now some of the biggest donors on the right are turning their attention to the delegate fight. Anti-Trump billionaires are funding ground operations in an increasing number of states to try to ensure the selection of national convention delegates who oppose Trump. The strategy is being executed by the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC, which has a stated goal of blocking the bombastic billionaire from clinching the GOP presidential nomination before the party’s convention in July. But the...

A group of news media outlets published articles on Sunday based on what they said were 11.5 million leaked documents from a Panama law firm that helped some of the world’s wealthiest people — including politicians, athletes and business moguls — establish offshore bank accounts. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung said its reporters had obtained the documents from a confidential source. The newspaper then shared the files with other media organizations, like The Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. In an article, the investigative journalism organization said the documents revealed the offshore accounts of 140 politicians and public...

The angry white men filling Donald Trump’s rallies are getting plenty of attention, most of it unflattering.

ON AN AIRPLANE FROM L.A. TO MIAMI--Donald Trump isn't the only billionaire in the eye of a seemingly treacherous Florida hurricane that threatens to destroy us all or at least change our world as we know it. Two others -- one or more of them far richer than Trump -- are singing "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie." Only it's not a Chevy they are taking to the levee. It's a Tesla.They are Linda Pritzker of Hyatt Hotels, the late Peter B. Lewis of Progressive Corp., and, of course, George Soros of practically everything. These three billionaires were (and in the...

A once-majestic stand of maple trees that the Holleran family of Susquehanna County has been working to produce maple syrup since the 1950s. A big pipeline firm, the Williams Companies, successfully used the right of eminent domain to win the right to clear the Hollerans' stand of trees to make way for a new pipeline intended to carry to natural gas fracked from the Marcellus Shale to large urban markets. According to StateImpact PA, at least three U.S. Marshals armed with semi-automatic weapons and pistols and wearing bulletproof vests were there to protect the pipeline workers from about 20 peaceful...

Globalist agitprop agents behind these anti- free speech protests are using tried and tested extortion-style techniques to get what they want. For Trump and "we the people" to shut up. We either bow down, or we resist them “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.”—Gyorgy Schwartz AKA George Soros “The Age of Infallibility” “Make America Great Again”—Donald Trump campaign slogan The forces arrayed against the United States and freedom are beyond daunting—way beyond daunting. Among the forces promoting a leftist vision of “utopia” is the group “MoveOn.org”—funded largely by billionaire George Soros. “MoveOn.org”...

Ingvar Kamprad, who turns 90 on Mar 30, has a reputation for penny-pinching, which he claims helped Ikea to become one of the world's top brand names.Frugal billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the flatpack furniture chain Ikea, buys his clothes at flea markets to save money, he said in a documentary to be broadcast Wednesday (Mar 9) on Swedish television. Kamprad, who turns 90 on Mar 30, has a reputation for penny-pinching, which he claims helped Ikea to become one of the world's top brand names. "I don't think I'm wearing anything that wasn't bought at a flea market....