EXCLUSIVE: Texas Facebook Billionaire Accused Of Violating Law To Fund Liberal Causes

A Texas philanthropist is abusing the nonprofit legal system to quietly fund Democratic priorities such as ranked-choice voting, a conservative watchdog group claims.

John Arnold’s Action Now Initiative pretends to be a social welfare organization to enjoy tax-exempt status while spending heavily on campaigns, American Accountability Foundation (AAF) alleged in an IRS complaint obtained by the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation. In one instance, Action Now Initiative’s IRS filings seemingly failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a 2020 ranked-choice voting campaign in Alaska, AAF told the agency Feb. 4, citing public records.

“Our organization fully complies with all applicable tax laws and reporting requirements, and any claim otherwise is false,” a spokesperson for Arnold Ventures, Arnold’s private company, told the DCNF in response to an inquiry sent to Action Now Initiative. Arnolds is also a board member at Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, its website shows.

Arnold’s organizations promote gun control, lenient criminal justice policies and “racial justice,” though he has portrayed himself as opposed to “partisan” politicians. Sixty-one percent of Arnold Ventures’ campaign donations went to Democrats in 2024, according to the database