(Corrects fifth paragraph to say that super-PAC is backing Romney; it isn’t his PAC.)
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) (AMZN) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is contributing $2.5 million to an effort to keep same-sex marriage legal in Washington, joining hedge-fund managers including Paul Singer and Cliff Asness in backing the issue in U.S. states.
The gift from the Seattle-based Internet retailer’s founder and his wife, MacKenzie, is the largest of its kind from an individual supporting gay nuptials, according to a statement today from Washington United for Marriage. The coalition is working to get voters to support gay marriage in November, when similar referendums will also be held in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.
Singer, founder of the $20 billion hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. in New York, and Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management in Greenwich, Connecticut, are among five pro-Republican financiers who have donated $1.5 million to New York-based Freedom to Marry, according to the website of the advocacy group. In the race for president, Singer and Asness back Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor who opposes same-sex marriage, according to the New York Times.
“We’re seeing more people willing to say that this is not a partisan issue,” said Matt McTighe, campaign manager for Mainers United for Marriage, a gay-rights group. “This isn’t about politics; it’s about families.”
Singer, whose son is gay, has given $1 million to a so- called super-political action committee supporting Romney, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue. He also backed the successful effort to legalize same-sex marriage in New York last year.
The other hedge-fund managers include Dan Loeb, founder of $8.7 billion Third Point LLC in New York, and Seth Klarman, who runs Baupost Group LLC in Boston. Asness and Loeb have backed Republican causes and candidates, while Klarman has supported Republican and Democratic causes, according to opensecrets.org, a Washington-based campaign-finance watchdog group.
Asness didn’t immediately return telephone calls seeking comment, nor did Brian Maddox, a spokesman for AQR. Loeb didn’t immediately return telephone calls seeking comment, nor did Elissa Doyle, a spokeswoman for Third Point. Elaine Mann, a spokeswoman for Klarman’s hedge fund Baupost, didn’t return e- mails and telephone messages seeking comment.
Lawmakers in Washington and Maryland granted gay and lesbian couples the right to marry this year, though those laws are being challenged in ballot initiatives. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia permit the practice.
The contributions by the hedge-fund managers were reported earlier this week by the Financial Times.
To contact the reporters on this story: Esmé E. Deprez in New York at [email protected]; Saijel Kishan in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) (AMZN) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is contributing $2.5 million to an effort to keep same-sex marriage legal in Washington, joining hedge-fund managers including Paul Singer and Cliff Asness in backing the issue in U.S. states.
The gift from the Seattle-based Internet retailer’s founder and his wife, MacKenzie, is the largest of its kind from an individual supporting gay nuptials, according to a statement today from Washington United for Marriage. The coalition is working to get voters to support gay marriage in November, when similar referendums will also be held in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.
Singer, founder of the $20 billion hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. in New York, and Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management in Greenwich, Connecticut, are among five pro-Republican financiers who have donated $1.5 million to New York-based Freedom to Marry, according to the website of the advocacy group. In the race for president, Singer and Asness back Mitt Romney, the former Republican governor who opposes same-sex marriage, according to the New York Times.
“We’re seeing more people willing to say that this is not a partisan issue,” said Matt McTighe, campaign manager for Mainers United for Marriage, a gay-rights group. “This isn’t about politics; it’s about families.”
Singer, whose son is gay, has given $1 million to a so- called super-political action committee supporting Romney, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its August issue. He also backed the successful effort to legalize same-sex marriage in New York last year.
The other hedge-fund managers include Dan Loeb, founder of $8.7 billion Third Point LLC in New York, and Seth Klarman, who runs Baupost Group LLC in Boston. Asness and Loeb have backed Republican causes and candidates, while Klarman has supported Republican and Democratic causes, according to opensecrets.org, a Washington-based campaign-finance watchdog group.
Asness didn’t immediately return telephone calls seeking comment, nor did Brian Maddox, a spokesman for AQR. Loeb didn’t immediately return telephone calls seeking comment, nor did Elissa Doyle, a spokeswoman for Third Point. Elaine Mann, a spokeswoman for Klarman’s hedge fund Baupost, didn’t return e- mails and telephone messages seeking comment.
Lawmakers in Washington and Maryland granted gay and lesbian couples the right to marry this year, though those laws are being challenged in ballot initiatives. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia permit the practice.
The contributions by the hedge-fund managers were reported earlier this week by the Financial Times.
To contact the reporters on this story: Esmé E. Deprez in New York at [email protected]; Saijel Kishan in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at [email protected]