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Officials made no mention of politics in cutting ties with a network of nonprofit funds, but Bill Gates has made other moves to insulate the charity from political pressures.
Theodore Schleifer covers the work of political donors and philanthropists.
Aug. 26, 2025, 6:00 p.m. ET
America’s largest charitable foundation has quietly ceased backing a nonprofit network closely associated with the Democratic Party and criticized by conservatives, a symbolically significant blow to a powerful player in liberal politics.
The Gates Foundation decided in late June to halt making grants to nonprofit funds administered by the consulting firm Arabella Advisors, according to an internal foundation announcement reviewed by The New York Times.
That decision, attributed to the foundation’s chief executive, Mark Suzman, has sparked unease in the world of progressive philanthropy. Some nonprofits that work with Arabella are already seeking distance from the firm in order to preserve their relationships with the Gates Foundation, which primarily supports health initiatives around the globe.
In addition to its consulting work on behalf of nonprofits and philanthropists, Arabella also manages several “dark money” funds that support Democrats and the progressive movement.
For the organizations that the foundation’s grants ultimately support, large sums are on the line. The Gates Foundation has disbursed or pledged about $450 million to nonprofit funds administered by Arabella over the last sixteen years, according to the foundation’s records. It is one of the earliest, and largest, backers of nonprofit funds managed by Arabella.
In its internal announcement, dated June 24 and sent to some Gates employees who oversee grant programs, foundation officials did not mention politics. Instead, they cited a desire to engage more directly with grant recipients and cut back on the use of intermediaries like Arabella entities.
