donor mega-donor education school-choice privatization dark-money religious-right michigan amway revolving-door erik-prince
related: The DeVos to McMahon Pipeline - Public Schools as Private Profit American Federation for Children Trump Heritage Foundation Federalist Society Koch Network - Charles Koch
Who They Are
The DeVos family is the Republican Party’s most consequential education donor and one of its largest overall funding operations. The fortune comes from two sources: Richard DeVos Sr. co-founded Amway (now Alticor), the multi-level marketing empire, generating an estimated $5.4 billion family net worth (Forbes, 2016). Betsy DeVos’s brother Erik Prince founded Blackwater (now Academi), the private military contractor that became synonymous with Iraq War-era mercenary operations.
Betsy DeVos is the family’s political architect. She chairs the American Federation for Children (the school privatization lobby she founded), ran the Great Lakes Education Project (Michigan charter school advocacy), served on the board of the Alliance for School Choice, and served as Michigan Republican Party chair (1996-2000, 2003-2005). In 2017, she became Trump’s Secretary of Education — confirmed 51-50 with the first vice-presidential tiebreaker for a cabinet nominee in American history.
The family has invested at least $200 million in right-wing causes since 1970 and contributed $20.2+ million to federal Republican candidates, committees, and PACs since 1989. In a 1997 Roll Call op-ed titled “Soft Money Is Good,” Betsy DeVos wrote what may be the most candid statement any major donor has ever published: “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now, I simply concede the point. We expect a return on our investment.”
They got it.
What They Want
School privatization: The DeVos family’s central project is redirecting public education funding to private and religious schools through voucher programs, education savings accounts, and charter school expansion. Betsy DeVos founded the American Federation for Children specifically to achieve this — the organization spent $9 million on school choice advocacy in 2023 alone, funded by at least $2.5 million from Betsy and Dick DeVos personally.
For-profit charter expansion without oversight: Michigan under DeVos influence expanded from ~100 charter schools (1989) to 300+ — with approximately 80% operated by for-profit management companies, the highest percentage in the nation. A federal audit found potential conflicts of interest in six of seven examined Michigan charter schools. The US Department of Education denied Michigan a $45 million Charter Schools Program grant in 2015 due to inadequate oversight. Senator Gary Peters documented over $500 million in taxpayer money wasted on failed Michigan charter schools.
Regulatory forbearance for Amway: The FTC ruled in 1979 that Amway was not a pyramid scheme but ordered it to cease misrepresenting distributor earnings. Subsequent violations led to a $100,000 penalty (1986) and a $150 million consumer restitution settlement (2019). During Betsy DeVos’s tenure as Education Secretary (2017-2021), Amway faced no significant new FTC enforcement action.
Christian conservative infrastructure: The family has funded Focus on the Family ($6.69 million, 1998-2013), the Heritage Foundation ($6+ million, 2009-2011, plus creating the “DeVos Center for Religion and Society”), the Federalist Society, the Council for National Policy, American Enterprise Institute, and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The school choice agenda is inseparable from the religious school funding agenda.
Who They Fund
Political Contributions
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989-01-01 | DeVos family begins federal campaign contributions (tracking starts) | $20.2M+ cumulative | OpenSecrets |
| 1997-01-01 | Michigan state party contributions begin (combined 1997-present) | $44M+ cumulative | FollowTheMoney |
| 2012-12-31 | DeVos family funds Michigan right-to-work campaign (passed legislature) | — | Bridge Michigan |
| 2015-01-01 | Trump confirmation vote buying begins: DeVos family targets Senate HELP Committee | $818K+ | Washington Post |
| 2017-01-09 | Trump inauguration: DeVos family contributes $1M (split 6 members at $125K-250K each) | $1M | Washington Post |
| 2015-2025 | Cumulative Michigan school choice protection spending (past decade) | $6.1M+ | Bridge Michigan |
| 2024-12-31 | DeVos family 2024 cycle spending (GOP committees + PACs, non-MI) | $2.26M | GRIID |
| 1970-2024 | Dick DeVos Jr. cumulative state/local giving (lifetime) | $40.2M | FollowTheMoney |
Partisan split: Functionally 100% Republican. One documented exception: a $59K contribution from an Adelson-backed Texas gambling PAC to a Democratic state legislator on a gambling-specific issue. The DeVos operation is the most partisan major donor family in the vault.
Confirmation vote buying: In the 2014-2016 cycles, the DeVos family gave at least $818,000 to 20 Republican senators and $250,000 to five members of the Senate HELP Committee that would vote on Betsy’s confirmation. Marco Rubio received $81,000 from Betsy and 11 family members. Every Republican senator who received DeVos money voted to confirm her.
Dark Money Operations
The DeVos political machine operates through multiple 501(c)(4) organizations that do not disclose donors:
- American Federation for Children: Betsy’s flagship, $9M annual advocacy budget. 501(c)(4) status shields donor identities.
- DonorsTrust: DeVos foundation contributed $2.5 million (2009-2010) to this donor-advised fund — the same anonymizing vehicle used by Koch, Mercer, and Thiel families.
- Michigan Freedom Network: $2.3 million from DeVos-connected sources.
- Great Lakes Education Project: Created by Betsy DeVos in 2001, $2M+ in DeVos funding.
When senators demanded DeVos disclose her dark money ties during the confirmation process, she declined.
Conservative Infrastructure Funding
| Date | Event | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-01-01 | Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation begins funding Focus on the Family | $6.69M+ | Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation |
| 2013-12-31 | Focus on the Family funding period ends (total 1998-2013) | (cumulative) | Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation |
| 2009-01-01 | Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation begins Heritage Foundation funding | $6M+ | InfluenceWatch |
| 2011-12-31 | Heritage Foundation funding period (2009-2011) | (cumulative) | InfluenceWatch |
| 1970-01-01 | Ongoing: Federalist Society receives “hundreds of thousands” from DeVos Foundation | (ongoing) | Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation |
| 1970-01-01 | Ongoing: American Enterprise Institute receives “substantial” support from DeVos | (ongoing) | InfluenceWatch |
| 1970-01-01 | Ongoing: Mackinac Center for Public Policy receives “substantial” DeVos support | (ongoing) | Bridge Michigan |
Money
The DeVos family’s $200 million lifetime investment in right-wing infrastructure produced: a cabinet secretary position, 300+ charter schools in Michigan (80% for-profit), school choice legislation in multiple states, right-to-work in Michigan (2012, repealed 2024), Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society institutional influence, and regulatory forbearance for Amway during the Trump administration. Betsy DeVos acknowledged the transactional nature in writing: “We expect a return on our investment.” The $1 million inaugural donation — split across six family members at $125K-$250K each — preceded the cabinet appointment by weeks.
The Revolving Door — Education Secretary as ROI
Betsy DeVos (2017-2021)
The confirmation: 51-50, with VP Pence casting the first tiebreaking vote for a cabinet nominee in US history. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republican defections. During the hearing, DeVos could not answer basic questions about education policy, including whether schools should be measured by proficiency or growth.
Policy outcomes aligned with donor priorities:
- Borrower Defense Rule gutting: Raised the bar for defrauded students seeking debt relief, requiring proof of school’s intent to mislead (vs. Obama-era standard requiring only proof of misrepresentation). Estimated $10.5 billion reduction in debt relief over 10 years — a direct benefit to for-profit colleges. Congress voted bipartisan to block the rule; Trump vetoed the disapproval.
- Gainful Employment Rule elimination: Stripped consequences for colleges with poor job placement rates, benefiting the for-profit college industry.
- Title IX narrowing: Redefined sexual harassment as “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive,” strengthened protections for accused students, required cross-examination of accusers. Eighteen states and DC sued to block changes.
- School choice advocacy from federal platform: Used cabinet position to promote voucher programs, the policy objective her family had spent $200 million building toward.
Contradiction
The Education Secretary whose family spent $200 million promoting school privatization used the position to weaken protections for defrauded students ($10.5 billion in reduced debt relief), eliminate accountability for for-profit colleges, and narrow Title IX sexual harassment protections. The family that insists its education advocacy is about “empowering parents” produced a cabinet tenure defined by reducing protections for students while expanding opportunities for the education industry to profit.
What They’ve Gotten
The Michigan Charter Laboratory
Michigan is the DeVos family’s proof of concept — and its cautionary tale:
| Metric | Michigan Charter Performance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Number of charters | 300+ (vs. ~100 in 1989) | Bridge Michigan |
| For-profit management | ~80% (highest in nation) | Bridge Michigan |
| Federal oversight | $45M grant denied for inadequate oversight (2015) | Dept. of Education |
| Wasted taxpayer money | $500M+ on failed charters | Sen. Gary Peters |
| Conflicts of interest | 6 of 7 audited schools had conflicts | Federal audit |
The DeVos model prioritized expansion over accountability. Michigan’s charter schools operate with less government oversight than almost any other state. The result: the highest concentration of for-profit charters in America, hundreds of millions in wasted taxpayer money, and a federal government that refused to fund further expansion due to the lack of oversight the DeVos family had lobbied to prevent.
The Ballot Box Limit
In every state where school vouchers have been put to a public vote, they have lost. The DeVos model works through legislatures — where campaign contributions create access — not through democratic referenda where the public decides directly. This is the Genuine Win + Structural Limit pattern: real policy victories achieved through donor influence that cannot survive democratic ratification.
Right-to-Work (Achieved and Lost)
The DeVos family was a major donor to Michigan’s 2012 right-to-work campaign. The law passed through a Republican-controlled legislature despite significant public opposition. In February 2024, Michigan’s Democratic legislature repealed right-to-work. The policy cycle — donor-funded passage, eventual democratic repeal — mirrors the voucher ballot box pattern.
The Erik Prince Dimension
Betsy’s brother Erik Prince adds a second dimension of family influence:
- Blackwater/Academi: Founded the most prominent private military contractor in the Iraq War era. Academi settled arms trafficking violations for $49.5 million.
- Seychelles meeting (January 2017): Met with a Kremlin-connected Russian banker in the Seychelles, allegedly to establish a Trump-Russia back channel. Mueller’s investigation obtained Prince’s phones and found evidence contradicting his congressional testimony.
- Clinton email operation: Helped fund efforts related to obtaining Hillary Clinton’s emails.
- Ongoing Trump influence: Maintained access on Ukraine and China policy through informal advisory channels.
The Prince-DeVos family operates across two domains simultaneously: Betsy privatizes public education, Erik privatizes military operations. Both represent the same structural project — converting public functions into private profit centers.
Class Analysis
The DeVos family represents the clearest case in the vault of a donor openly acknowledging the transactional nature of political giving — and then executing on it.
The confession is the evidence. When Betsy DeVos wrote “we expect a return on our investment” in 1997, she stated what most donors leave implicit. The family spent $200 million on right-wing infrastructure. They received a cabinet position, charter school expansion across Michigan, right-to-work legislation, regulatory forbearance for Amway, and a federal platform to promote school privatization. The ROI is documented by the donor herself.
School choice is class warfare with a brand. The DeVos model redirects public education funding to private operators — 80% for-profit in Michigan — while blocking the oversight mechanisms that would hold those operators accountable. When the federal government denied Michigan $45 million because oversight was insufficient, the DeVos response wasn’t to improve oversight. It was to seek a cabinet position where they could change the federal rules. The $10.5 billion reduction in student debt relief during Betsy’s tenure as Secretary transferred wealth from defrauded students to for-profit institutions.
Dark money is the infrastructure. American Federation for Children, DonorsTrust, Michigan Freedom Network, Great Lakes Education Project — the DeVos political operation runs through 501(c)(4) organizations that shield donor identities. When senators demanded disclosure during the confirmation process, DeVos refused. The family that openly admits to buying influence simultaneously hides the channels through which the influence flows.
The ballot box test. Vouchers lose every time voters decide directly. They win only through legislatures where the DeVos family has distributed campaign contributions. This is the structural tell: the policy doesn’t have democratic support. It has donor support. The two are not the same thing, and the DeVos family’s model depends on ensuring the legislature — not the electorate — makes the decision.
Sources
- OpenSecrets: DeVos Family Profile Summary (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets: Betsy DeVos and Her Big-Giving Relatives (Tier 1)
- FollowTheMoney: Michigan’s DeVos Family (Tier 1)
- FTC: In re Amway Corporation Decision (PDF) (Tier 1)
- Sen. Whitehouse: Senators Renew Calls for DeVos to Disclose Dark Money Ties (Tier 1)
- Sen. Peters: DeVos Pressed on $500M Wasted on Failed Charter Schools (Tier 1)
- NPR: Pence Becomes First VP to Break Senate Tie Over Cabinet Nomination (Tier 2)
- NPR: The Legacy of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (Tier 2)
- NPR: DeVos Overruled Education Dept. Findings on Defrauded Student Borrowers (Tier 2)
- Bridge Michigan: Betsy DeVos’s Michigan Legacy (Tier 2)
- NBC News: Betsy DeVos Put Millions Behind School Choice Candidates (Tier 2)
- Rolling Stone: Betsy DeVos’s Holy War (Tier 2)
- Rolling Stone: Betsy DeVos Just Bought Herself a Trump Cabinet Position (Tier 2)
- The Intercept: Erik Prince’s Persistent Influence on Trump (Tier 2)
- InfluenceWatch: Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation (Tier 2)
- SourceWatch: American Federation for Children (Tier 2)
- GRIID: DeVos Family 2024 Political Contributions (Tier 2)
- Snopes: DeVos Family Campaign Contributions Fact Check (Tier 2)
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