In The Pay of Foundations: How U.S. power elite foundations fund a `parallel left' media network--Part 19

Foundation funding Democracy Now! owns Microsoft monopoly stock

In The Pay of Foundations—Part 19

How U.S. power elite and liberal establishment foundations fund a “parallel left” media network of left media journalists and gatekeepers.

In 2005, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! Productions a "charitable" grant of $150,000 [equal to over $194,000 in 2018] for “general support,” the Glaser Progress Foundation still owned over $5.6 million worth of Microsoft monopoly corporate stock; and in 2006, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! a grant of $100,000 [equal to over $125,000 in 2018], the value of the 215,000 shares of Microsoft corporate stock that the Glaser Progress Foundation continued to own had now increased to over $6.4 million [equal to over $8 million in 2018].

In 2008, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! another grant of $100,000, the value of the Glaser Progress Foundation’s share of Microsoft monopoly corporate stock was over $3.8 million; and in 2009, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! yet another grant of $100,000, the Glaser Progress Foundation still also owned over $6 million worth of Microsoft corporate stock.

Between 2010 and 2014, the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! Productions 5 additional grants, totaling $250,000; and in 2014 the Glaser Foundation still owned over $3.1 million worth of Microsoft monopoly corporate stock.

In addition, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! another $50,000 grant in 2015, it still owned over $1.9 million worth of Microsoft stock; and in 2016, when the Glaser Progress Foundation gave Democracy Now! yet another $50,000 grant, the Glaser Foundation still owned $810,000 worth of Microsoft monopoly corporate stock.

But on Dec. 20, 2016, Reuters reported that Microsoft had accepted from the U.S. War Machine’s Department of Defense “a $927 million contract to provide technical support to the Defense Information Systems Agency [DISA].” According to a Dec. 21, 2016 Zacks.com article by Madeleine Johnson:

“…The company's contract is noncompetitive, single-award, firm-fixed, and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity.

“Under the contract, Microsoft will provide consulting services that include software developers and product teams…as well as the firm's premier support services like tools and knowledge centers and problem resolution assistance from developers.

“Microsoft's contract with DISA comes in addition to its huge deal with the U.S. Department of Defense earlier this year, which will move all of the federal agency's 4 million employees to Windows 10 within a year, as well as purchasing large quantities of laptops and other hardware….”

And according to DISA’s own website:

“As it enters the second decade of the new century, DISA stands as an operationally focused combat support agency, providing joint and combined warfighting command and control and information technology capabilities. DISA engineers, develops, maintains, and operates a global net-centric enterprise in direct support to joint and coalition warfighters, national-level leaders, and other mission partners across the full spectrum of operations.”

In addition, an Oct. 6, 2016 Business Insider article by Sam Shead noted  that “Zack Weisfeld, the general manager of Microsoft Global Accelerators, said Microsoft had grown its R. and D team in Israel to about 1,000 people since it opened up its first office in the country 25 years ago,.”—despite the call by most U.S. antiwar movement activists for U.S. corporations like Microsoft to support the Palestinian solidarity movement’s BDS campaign.

Nor surprisingly, during the period between 2001 and 2015 when the foundation set up by former Microsoft Vice-President Glaser owned millions of dollars worth of Microsoft monopoly stock while funding Democracy Now!, the total annual compensation that Democracy Now! co-host and producer Goodman received from her “non-profit” and parallel left media firm increased from less than $36,000 [equal to around $50,000 in 2018] in 2002 to over $176,000 in 2015, according to Democracy Now! Productions's  Form 990 financial filing for 2015.

Also, not surprisingly, in addition to owning millions of dollars of Microsoft stock between 2001 and 2015, RealNetworks Inc. CEO Glaser’s Glaser Progress Foundation has also owned millions of dollars worth of his own corporation’s stock during this same period. For example, in 2006 over $20 million worth of RealNetworks stock was owned by the Glaser Progress Foundation; and over $1.9 million worth of RealNetworks stock (as well as over $600,000 worth of Facebook Inc. corporate stock) was still owned by longtime Democracy Now! funder and Real Networks CEO Glaser’s foundation in 2015.

In December 2016, Glaser’s Glaser Progress Foundation still owned 459,101 shares of RealNetworks corporate stock, which was then worth over $2.2 million; and Glaser, individually, still owned 12,970,100 shares of RealNetworks corporate stock in February 2018.

NY Times Company Director's Ariel Investments: Owns 19 percent of Democracy Now! funder's firm.

But 7,236,402 shares of RealNetworks corporate stock in December 2017 (equal to over 19 percent of all RealNetworks corporate stock) was also owned by Chicago-based Ariel Investments—whose Chair and CEO John Rogers sits on the boards of directors of the New York Times Company corporate media firm, McDonald’s, Excelon and the Barack Obama Foundation. In addition, a former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama and current Lyft corporate board member, Valerie Jarett, sits next to New York Times Company board member Rogers on the board of directors of the Ariel Investments firm that owns nearly 20 percent of the stock of Democracy Now! funder Glaser’s RealNetworks. 

Directors of Ariel Investments/RealNetworks Stockowners sit on Obama Foundation board 

And other corporate Establishment folks—like Microsoft Corporation Engineering Director Chris Jones, former Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Corporate Development Bruce Jafffee and a board member of the UK’s Daily Mail right-wing and pro-war media conglomerate named Dominique Trempont—have, coincidentally, also been sitting next to RealNetworks CEO/Chair and Democracy Now! funder Glaser on the RealNetworks corporate board in recent years.

UK Daily Mail  board member: Sits on Democracy Now! funder's RealNetworks board

Yet most folks who listen or watch the parallel left Democracy Now! news show that gets aired on 1,440 stations each weekday don’t think Democracy Now! funders should be involved in business relationships with these kinds of corporate establishment folks. (end of part 19)