Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking a victory lap for spearheading a multi-state lawsuit taking on the world’s largest asset managers, but is quietly sitting upon thousands of shares of mutual funds managed by one of the targets of his complaint, according to recent financial disclosures.
Paxton cheered a Texas judge’s ruling on Aug. 1 denying a petition from the investment juggernauts — BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard — to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the attorney general and ten other Republican states. Though Paxton had then cast Vanguard as part of an “investment cartel” who works to “squeeze more money out of everyday Americans,” his holdings in five Vanguard mutual funds have largely flown under the radar.
“I just secured a major win against Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street,” Paxton wrote in an Aug. 1 post to the social media platform X — after a judge green-lit his antitrust lawsuit, arguing the money managers illegally conspired to slash coal production under the guise of a left-wing climate agenda. “These financial corporations created an investment cartel to illegally control national energy markets, and today’s victory represents an important step in holding them accountable.”
Paxton is running to unseat Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn in a primary contest that is shaping up to be one of the most brutal races of the midterms. Though Paxton has taken an early lead in polling, Cornyn — with the backing of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm and several outside spending groups — is mounting a concerted effort to close the gap. President Donald Trump, who said in April that he likes both candidates, has not yet issued an endorsement.
The attorney general submitted a personal financial disclosure for his Senate run on June 16 — reporting thousands of shares in six Vanguard mutual funds valued between $1.6 million and $6.25 million. The amounts on financial disclosure forms are reported in ranges making Paxton’s net worth derived from the Vanguard shares difficult to pin down.
Cornyn’s backers are criticizing Paxton’s investment holdings in Vanguard funds, noting the attorney general has repeatedly slammed the investment firm for allegedly bleeding Texans’ pocketbooks dry by illegally conspiring to drive up energy prices.
“The fact that Paxton profits off the very practices he condemns shows he’s more interested in personal gain over principled leadership,” pro-Cornyn super PAC Texans for a Conservative Majority executive director Aaron Whitehead told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “If he truly believes this firm is hurting Texans why is he investing his personal money with them?”
“You can always count on Crooked Ken Paxton to act unethically, dishonestly and selfishly, as he has done here. Texans can’t trust Ken Paxton, something he proves on a daily basis,” Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak told the DCNF.
Paxton’s investments in Vanguard, a pioneer of ultra-low cost investing, are a mixed bag of passively managed index funds and actively managed portfolios. He reported holding between 3,100 and 12,495 shares spread across five Vanguard mutual funds, according to a financial statement filed with the Texas Ethics Commission in June for the 2024 calendar year.
Paxton has invested between $1 million and $5 million in Vanguard’s Institutional Index Fund (VIIIX), representing the largest investment holding on his Senate financial disclosure form. The low-cost index fund is passively managed by the firm and tracks the performance of the S&P 500 index, which seeks to mirror the performance of the nation’s largest stocks.
The attorney general has also invested between $100,000 and $250,000 in Vanguard’s Primecap Fund (VPMCX), an actively managed “large-growth” fund offered by the firm, which touts outperforming the S&P 500 by an average of 2% annually.
An additional Vanguard fund listed on Paxton’s disclosure is held by his wife, Texas State Senator Angela Paxton. She has invested between $50,000 and $100,000 in a Vanguard index fund that matches the performance of the overall stock market, according to Paxton’s Senate financial disclosure.
Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July after 38 years of marriage, citing “biblical grounds.”
Spokespersons for Paxton did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.
“I will continue fighting to protect Texas and defend America’s energy independence from this unlawful conspiracy,” Paxton said regarding his lawsuit against Vanguard and other asset managers on Aug 1.
Caden Olson contributed to this report.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
