Texas’s Wealthiest Republican Donors Aren’t on Philanthropist List

The Chronicle of Philanthropy released its annual list of people who gave the most to charitable foundations this week. Missing from the list? Most of the billionaires currently pushing the state’s politics far to the right.

Texas was well represented with four couples. These were Susan and Michael Dell of the Dell computer company (No. 3); Laura and John Arnold, formerly of Centaurus Advisors (No. 5); Kathy and George Bishop, who founded GeoSouthern Energy (No. 24); and Nancy and Rich Kinder, also of Enron and then later the Kinder Morgan pipeline company (No. 38). Combined, they gave $1.6 billion to arts organizations, scholarship funds, and environmental causes.

The most conspicuous names missing from the list are Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, the two oil and gas billionaires putting the most money into moving the Texas Republican Party further right. Dunn is the CEO of CrownQuest Operating and is estimated to be worth $2.2 billion by Forbes. This puts him roughly in the ballpark of the Kinders and Bishops, wealth-wise.

Despite that, he appears to be nearly allergic to the concept of philanthropy. His list of supported organizations is almost entirely far-right think tanks related to promoting fossil fuels, opposing police reform, and establishing Christian nationalism. He also has an admittedly very cool-looking miniature golf course in Midland, but it’s for-profit.

Instead, Dunn spends millions on far-right Texas politicians, often using his cash to push out moderate Republicans. His PAC, Texans United for a Conservative Majority, has spent millions just ousting insufficiently conservative Republicans this year.  

Then there is Farris Wilks. Forbes ranks him just below Tim Dunn in net worth at $1.9 billion. That puts him on the low end of billionaires, albeit still very rich. Very little of that is going to charity.

Instead, Wilks (as well as his wife, Joanna and brother, Dan), have the Thirteen Foundation. It’s an organization dedicated largely to climate change denial and Christian supremacy. The Thirteen Foundation helps fund PragerU, a right wing “educational” network that pushes unscientific ideas about climate, gender, and history through slick videos. It is also one of biggest supporters of anti-abortion efforts.

It’s also worth mentioning Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who now resides in Texas. Musk is currently the richest man on Earth at $266 billion. Though he’s not nearly as active in Texas’s Republican radicalization efforts as Dunn and Wilks, he is largely funding the ground game of former President and current GOP candidate Donald Trump.

As the Earth’s richest citizen, the absence of Musk’s name from a list of top philanthropes is extremely noticeable. He was on previous lists thanks to donating stock to charity, though there have been a lot of questions about where exactly the money went. It was largely done in secrecy, which left many charity watchdogs curious if it was a gift or some financial trick.  

In recent years he has begun pouring some money into Cameron County. Though, that might have something to do with the fact his SpaceX rockets blow up over it. Tax laws state that a person’s charitable foundation must spend 5 percent of its funds on charitable spending, a number Musk has fallen hundreds of millions short of. 

In general, Musk’s philanthropy is much closer to Dunn and Wilks than the people on the current philanthropy list in that it largely serves to preserve his fortune and push his political views rather than benefit humanity.