Arabella Advisors

Arabella Advisors
Arabella Advisors Holdings LLC
Formation2005; 19 years ago (2005)
FounderEric Kessler
TypeCertified B Corporation
PurposePhilanthropic consulting
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
CEO
Himesh Bhise[1]
SubsidiariesSixteen Thirty Fund
Hopewell Fund
New Venture Fund
Windward Fund
North Fund
Websitearabellaadvisors.com

Arabella Advisors is a Washington, D.C.-based for-profit consulting company that advises left-leaning donors and nonprofits about where to give money and serves as the hub of a politically liberal "dark money" network.[2] It was founded by former Clinton administration appointee Eric Kessler.[2] The Arabella network spent nearly $1.2 billion in 2020 and raised $1.6 billion that same year.[3][4] In 2022, Arabella raised $1.3 billion and spent $900 million.[5]

Organizations incubated by and affiliated with Arabella Advisors include the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the New Venture Fund, the Hopewell Fund, the Windward Fund, and the North Fund.[6][7] These groups have been active in various efforts to oppose the Trump administration and to organize opposition to numerous Republican politicians and policies.

According to The Atlantic, Arabella Advisors has "undeniably benefited from the rush of panicked political giving on the left during the Trump years."[8] In 2020, the Sixteen Thirty Fund donated $410 million toward defeating Trump and winning Democratic control of the U.S. Senate.[9] Because of the way they are legally structured, Arabella Advisors and its affiliated groups are not required to disclose their donors, and they have not opted to do so. Billionaires George Soros and Pierre Omidyar have disclosed multi-million donations to the network. Politico has described the Sixteen Thirty Fund as a "left-leaning, secret-money group", writing that the group "illustrates the extent to which the left embraced the use of 'dark money' to fight for its causes in recent years. After decrying big-money Republican donors over the last decade, as well as the Supreme Court rulings that flooded politics with more cash, Democrats now benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars of undisclosed donations as well."[9]

  1. ^ "Arabella Advisors Appoints Himesh Bhise as CEO". GlobeNewswire News Room. Arabella Advisors. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference politico was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane (29 January 2022). "Democrats Decried Dark Money. Then They Won With It in 2020". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  4. ^ Schoffstall, Joe (8 July 2022). "Schumer-aligned dark money nonprofit raked in record $105 million from anonymous donors, tax forms show". Fox News. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. ^ Schoffstall, Joe (15 November 2023). "Left-wing dark money behemoth raised more than $1.3 billion to fuel liberal causes in 2022". Fox News. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  6. ^ Massoglia, Anna (December 23, 2021). "Liberal 'dark money' groups' revenue soared ahead of 2020 elections". OpenSecrets. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  7. ^ Barrett, Malachi (November 26, 2019). "Left-leaning 'dark money' network poured millions into Michigan elections". MLive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference atlantic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Bland, Scott (November 17, 2021). "Liberal 'dark-money' behemoth funneled more than $400M in 2020". POLITICO. Retrieved 23 November 2021.