The Barack Obama Foundation enjoyed a banner year in 2017, accumulating almost $232 million in tax-free donations.
From Daily Caller:
According to the 990 tax form it filed with the Internal Revenue Service for 2017, revenue rose exponentially from the previous year when it only raised about $13 million. Senior executives also enjoyed more than ample remuneration, with the foundation’s executive director, Robbie Cohen, receiving a salary of $862,055 that year. Chief Executive Officer David Simas was paid $614,636 in salary and compensation.
The tax form indicates that “the Foundation’s mission to honor the legacy of President Barack Obama and to inspire, empower and” — it ends without finishing the sentence.
As the Washington Free Beacon notes, the foundation is a nonprofit organization fundamentally created in 2014 to build a presidential library in Chicago. The design of that structure has been described in unfavorable terms by some.
The money it raised in 2017 was hardly the result of grassroots contributions, as only 13 people provided most of the cash, with four contributors providing $25 million a piece and another two donating $24 million each.
