In anticipation of its IPO, Facebook executives and employees put $170,000 into a new political action committee before the end of the year designed to help fund political candidates who they believe have their best interests in mind. Here’s a glimpse of personal funding for 2012 among Facebook corporate members:
Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and Plaxo and a Facebook board member gave $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee and $5,000 to President Barak Obama.
Mark Andreesen, Facebook board member whose early claim to fame was Netscape, gave $50,000 to Restore Our Future PAC, the Political Action Committee supporting Mitt Romney as well as the $2,500 maximum to Romney for President. He also contributed $7,500 to Utah U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and $30,800 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook gave $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee, $5,000 to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), $2,500 to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), $2,500 to U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO),
$5,000 to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and $5,000 to President Barak Obama.
Peter Thiel, early Facebook investor and founder of PayPal who is a libertarian, gave a startling $900,000 to Endorse Liberty, a PAC supporting Republican Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential bid. He also gave $10,000 to the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, $5,000 to Ohio Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel, $7,400 to former Texas Solicitor General and U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz, $5,000 to Republican businessman and U.S. House District 1 challenger Randy Altschuler of Long Island, and $4,800 to U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
Reid Hoffmann, Co-Founder of Linked In, gave $30,800 to the Democrat National Committee (DNC) and another $5,000 to President Barak Obama.
Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder, gave $15,800 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), $10,000 to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), $5,000 to U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and $5,000 to Pres. Obama.
Facebook has steadily been increasing its lobbying presence over the past few years, spending more than $1.35 million in 2011. The company is following key issues like copyright, media and publishing and Internet privacy and piracy concerns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently came out against Internet piracy legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), which sparked a firestorm in the tech industry recently, stating that “The Internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more powerful and connected world.” Read the full post here.