How David Koch and Paul Singer Influence Big Supreme Court Cases

Billionaires aren’t just trying to influence elections. They also work to shape the laws of the country.

_By_{Alison Durkee}_{Forbes team}

Tthe Supreme Court is set to release its biggest decisions of the year this month, and many billionaires will be watching. Some of their names are known, like Donald Trump, Charles Koch or the Sackler family. Others, less so, like the Searle family. Using tax returns, court records and other public documents, Forbes has compiled a list of the most notable tycoons behind the lawsuits.

Guérin Blask for Forbes

Charles Koch

Net value : $59.6 billion | Source of wealth: Koch Industries | Case: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo | Objective: Weakening the administrative state

America’s most powerful libertarian has long worked to limit the size of government, funding Republican candidates and joining forces with Democrats on issues such as criminal justice reform. This Supreme Court session, Koch’s network of nonprofits supports a group of herring fishermen who oppose a policy requiring them to pay $700 a day to transport federal observers on their vessels , who observe what they catch so that the government has accurate estimates. If this seems trivial, it is not: If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the fisherman, the case would overturn a historic decision that empowers federal agencies to adopt policies, even on issues for which it does not There are no specific laws. Koch has something to gain from a smaller administrative state. His business empire operates in highly regulated industries, including pipelines, chemicals and automobile manufacturing. Separately, Koch groups have filed more than a dozen amicus briefs this quarter, urging judges to punish social media companies that attack conservatives and to lift the ban on gun stocks fire.

Sue Ogrocki/AP

David Green

Net value : $14.4 billion | Source of wealth: Retail | Case : FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Moyle v. United States | Objective: Restrict abortions

The son of a pastor, Green grew the craft store Hobby Lobby into a multibillion-dollar retail chain, then used his fortune to promote Christian causes. One organization that benefited: Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group that supported challengers in the landmark case that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The organization, which is funded by at least two Green-backed nonprofits, is returning to the Supreme Court. this year with additional abortion challenges. One case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, unsuccessfully attempted to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone. Another case, Moyle v. United States, will determine whether hospitals in states that ban abortion must still perform abortions in emergency situations.

Sackler family

Net value : $5.2 billion (as of February 2024) | Source of wealth: Pharmaceutical products | Case: Harrington v. Purdue Pharma | Objective: Settle with thousands of legal challengers

The federal government is challenging a 2022 bankruptcy settlement Purdue Pharma reached with thousands of individuals, states and institutions suing the company and the Sackler family, which made billions selling opioids across the country. Members of the Raymond and Mortimer Sackler families are expected to pay victims $6 billion as part of the deal. However, they would also be protected from any additional civil liability, which the federal government says would save them from potentially paying trillions more in additional legal fees.

Searle family

Net value : $1.5 billion | Source of wealth: Pharmaceutical products | Case : Relentless v. Department of Commerce, Garland v. Cargill, Murthy v. Missouri | Objective: Limit government regulation

The late patriarch Daniel C. Searle made his fortune from the pharmaceutical industry into the Searle Freedom Trust, which became one of the largest private foundations supporting conservative causes in the country. Among the groups supported by the trust is the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which receives about 10 percent of what it spends on litigation from the trust and which has brought three cases to the Supreme Court this term. One challenges the power of federal agencies (Relentless v. Department of Commerce). Another questions the ban on bump stocks for firearms (Garland v. Cargill). The third objects to the Biden administration contacting social media companies and asking them to remove misinformation (Murthy v. Missouri). It’s all part of a broader mission to oppose government regulation and fits with the Searle Freedom Trust’s goal of promoting “individual liberty and economic freedom.” The foundation plans to close its doors at the end of 2025.

Irwin Jacobs

Net value : $1.2 billion (in 2019) | Source of wealth: Qualcomm | Case: NRA v. Vullo | Objective: Protecting First Amendment rights and civil liberties

Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, a former billionaire, is the benefactor of the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) effort before the Supreme Court. Jacobs (along with his wife Joan, who died in May) gave the organization $20 million in 2022 to fund its Supreme Court activities for the next four years, citing the ACLU’s work on protecting democracy and civil liberties, which is part of a broader commitment. they decided to give away the majority of their wealth. The ACLU’s focus on protecting civil liberties has made it a darling of the left, but it now supports the National Rifle Organization in court. The gun rights group fought a New York regulator’s warning that other groups should not do business with the organization — and ultimately won its case. Although the ACLU acknowledged that it does not support the NRA as an organization, it insisted that the case fits within the ACLU’s mission, ensuring that public officials cannot punish organizations based on their political views.

Misha Friedman/Bloomberg

Paul Singer

Net value : $6.1 billion | Source of wealth: Hedge funds | Case : Vidal v. Elster, Moore v. United States, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Garland v. Cargill, Murthy v. Missouri, City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, Moyle v. United States | Objective: Promoting individual freedom and the rule of law

Hedge fund manager Paul Singer chairs the Manhattan Institute, a right-wing think tank that has become a frequent presence at the Supreme Court. The institute filed seven briefs in major cases this quarter, covering cases involving taxes (Moore v. United States), abortion (Moyle v. United States), bureaucracy (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo) and firearms (Garland v. Cargill). , among others. Tax returns show Singer has given the institute $3.4 million since 2020. The billionaire has recently come under scrutiny due to reports that Justice Samuel Alito traveled with Singer on his private jet for a luxury fishing trip. (Alito has denied any wrongdoing, and a spokesperson for Singer told ProPublica that the billionaire did not organize the trip and did not initially know that Alito would be there, and claimed that they did not (did not discuss anything concerning the court.)

Tom Williams/CQ/Roll Call Inc/Getty Images

Donald Trump

Net value : $6.4 billion | Source of wealth: Real Estate | Case : Trump vs. United States, Trump vs. Anderson | Objective: Protect yourself from criminal charges and stay on the 2024 ballot

Former President Donald Trump is before the Supreme Court this term, but unlike other billionaires, he doesn’t appear to be paying anything himself. Instead, his donors are footing the bill. Save America, a Trump political action committee, has paid more than $10 million to the three law firms helping Trump try to dismiss his federal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. (The lawyers are also working on other Trump cases.) His 2024 campaign also paid lawyers who successfully argued that Trump could not be kept off the Colorado ballot.

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