The Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, formerly known as the Matan B’Seter Foundation, was created in 2001 as part of an elaborate and secretive network of grantmaking organizations funded by three hedge fund billionaires: Andrew Shechtel, David Gelbaum and C. Frederick Taylor. 13 At the time of this report the total assets of the philanthropic entities within the network (of which Matan B’Seter was one arm) was valued at $9.7 billion. If the total network had been considered as a single foundation, it would have ranked as the fourth-largest, behind only the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Getty Foundation. A lawyer with expertise in the tax-exempt sector characterized the secretive nature of the funding network as in keeping with the letter of the law for charitable foundations, though perhaps not the spirit, saying “most of us who practice in the tax-exempt arena would regard setting up a private foundation as a full-disclosure vehicle.” 15
David Gelbaum retired from TGS in or around 2014, leaving Shechtel and Taylor to manage it. He and his wife reportedly ceased their philanthropic giving in 2013. According to Gelbaum’s lawyer, as reported by the Algemeiner, he “lost more than he thought he could possibly lose” during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. 20
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund: Financial Overview | ||
|---|---|---|
| Revenues | Prior Year Change | |
| 2019 | $305,752,749 | 5.7% |
| 2018 | $289,224,841 | 14.1% |
| 2017 | $253,505,642 | 17% |
| 2016 | $216,332,067 | 12.1% |
| 2015 | $193,040,139 | 95.9% |
| 2014 | $98,524,149 | 10.8% |
| 2013 | $88,945,627 | 22% |
| 2012 | $72,786,294 | (19%) |
| 2011 | $90,003,223 | 20.1% |
| 2010 | $74,963,792 | 46,929% |
| 2009 | $159,398 | (99.6%) |
| 2008 | $36,280,391 | 1,392% |
| 2007 | $2,430,169 | (8.4%) |
| 2006 | $2,651,950 | (92.7%) |
| 2005 | $36,312,706 | 614% |
| 2004 | $5,082,303 | 457% |
| 2003 | $912,377 | (37.6%) |
| 2002 | $1,461,700 | (29.6%) |
| 2001 | $2,077,964 | |
| Total: | $1,770,447,481 | |
| Expenditures | Grants Paid | |
| 2019 | $281,520,924 | $253,591,986 |
| 2018 | $257,887,586 | $236,057,307 |
| 2017 | $205,480,974 | $184,054,917 |
| 2016 | $217,150,420 | $198,700,000 |
| 2015 | $203,678,000 | $187,600,000 |
| 2014 | $90,522,915 | $75,000,000 |
| 2013 | $83,886,070 | $70,000,000 |
| 2012 | $77,488,000 | $64,500,000 |
| 2011 | $146,079,554 | $134,645,700 |
| 2010 | $54,882,396 | $46,700,000 |
| 2009 | $34,080,000 | $26,250,000 |
| 2008 | $30,387,772 | $,5354,167 |
| 2007 | $51,523,375 | $47,415,000 |
| 2006 | $3,441,050 | $0 |
| 2005 | $17,227,977 | $15,000,000 |
| 2004 | $1,964,967 | $140,000 |
| 2003 | $15,141,671 | $13,806,000 |
| 2002 | $8,445,876 | $7,500,000 |
| 2001 | $2,495,629 | $2,000,000 |
| Total: | $1,783,285,156 | $1,568,315,077 |
| Net Assets | ||
| 2019 | $102,786,738 | |
| 2018 | $79,227,350 | |
| 2017 | $47,890,095 | |
| 2016 | $5,505,562 | |
| 2015 | $6,323,915 | |
| 2014 | $16,961,776 | |
| 2013 | $8,960,542 | |
| 2012 | $3,900,985 | |
| 2011 | $8,602,691 | |
| 2010 | $32,033,322 | |
| 2009 | $11,951,926 | |
| 2008 | $45,972,063 | |
| 2007 | $40,079,444 | |
| 2006 | $56,816,903 | |
| 2005 | $57,856,168 | |
| 2004 | $38,771,439 | |
| 2003 | $35,851,463 | |
| 2002 | $36,274,757 | |
| 2001 | $43,258,933 | |
Payments to Wellspring Advisors
For more information, see Wellspring Advisors (For-Profit)
IRS records representing most of 2001 through most of 2017 filed by the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund (previously the Matan B’Seter Foundation) show the consulting firm Wellspring Advisors receiving $142 million in fees from the foundation. 23 It’s also funded the LGBTQ Poverty Initiative, a research and advocacy group. 25
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund: Grants to Donor-Advised Funds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Fidelity Charitable | Vanguard Charitable | Annual Total | Percentage of Total Annual Grants |
| 2017 | $79,400,000 | - | - | 43% |
| 2016 | $83,690,000 | $111,310,000 | $198,700,000* | 100% |
| 2015 | $126,000,000 | $61,600,000 | $187,600,000 | 100% |
| 2014 | $60,000,000 | $15,000,000 | $75,000,000 | 100% |
| 2013 | $42,000,000 | $28,000,000 | $70,000,000 | 100% |
| 2012 | $29,500,000 | $35,000,000 | $64,500,000 | 100% |
| 2011 | - | $134,645,700 | $134,645,700 | 100% |
| 2010 | - | $46,700,000 | $46,700,000 | 100% |
| 2009 | - | $26,250,000 | $26,250,000 | 100% |
| 2008 | - | $25,000,000 | $25,000,000 | 100% |
| 2007 | - | $47,415,000 | $47,415,000 | 100% |
| 2006 | - | - | $0 | - |
| 2005 | - | $15,000,000 | $15,000,000 | 100% |
| 2004 | - | - | $0 | - |
| 2003 | $10,407,600 | $3,398,400 | $13,806,000 | 100% |
| 2002 | - | $7,500,000 | $7,500,000 | 100% |
| 2001 | - | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | 100% |
| Total | $430,997,600 | $558,819,100 | *Includes $3.7 million to Proteus Fund (DAF) | |
2017 Grant Recipients
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund’s tax returns covering late-2016 and most of 2017 show direct donations to some final recipients. However, this increase in transparency is only partial, as 32 percent ($79.4 million) of the $245.7 million granted during the period still went into the Fidelity Charitable Fund DAF. 26
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund: Grantors (2001-2017) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLTN Holdings | MBS Funding LLC | Shackelton Company, LLC | Rubik Enterprises LLC | Twenty-One Holdings, LLC | Annual Total | |
| 2017 | $9,352,027 | - | - | $118,126,414 | $118,126,414 | $245,604,855 |
| 2016 | $10,000,000 | - | - | $103,063,173 | $103,063,173 | $216,126,346 |
| 2015 | $10,000,000 | - | - | $91,517,907 | $91,517,902 | $193,035,809 |
| 2014 | $12,000,000 | - | - | $86,501,255 | - | $98,501,255 |
| 2013 | $10,000,000 | - | - | $78,926,839 | - | $88,926,839 |
| 2012 | - | - | - | $72,782,818 | - | $72,782,818 |
| 2011 | $31,770,900* | - | $90,000,000 | - | - | $121,770,900 |
| 2010 | - | - | $75,000,000 | - | - | $75,000,000 |
| 2009 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | - | $35,000,000 | - | - | - | $35,000,000 |
| 2007 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | $34,500,000 | - | - | - | - | $34,500,000 |
| 2004 | $4,500,000 | - | - | - | - | $4,500,000 |
| 2003 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2002 | $13,897,000 | - | - | - | - | $13,897,000 |
| 2001 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total: | $136,019,927 | $35,000,000 | $165,000,000 | $550,918,406 | $312,707,489 | |
| *Indicates non-cash gift | Grand Total: | $1,199,645,822 | ||||
Financial Documents
Wellspring’s IRS Form 990 filings covering the years 2016 and 2017 are available here:
- 2016 Form 990 (covering 12/01/2016 to 11/30/2017)
- 2015 Form 990 (covering 12/01/2015 to 11/30/2016)
Wellspring’s certificate of incorporation was filed with the state of New Jersey on November 24, 1999, and is available here.
Left-of-Center Voter Engagement
During August 2016 “DC Leaks,” a hacker organization widely assumed to have been a project of a Russian intelligence agency, released a trove of documents from the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations. 37
Wellspring’s most recent IRS filing covering 2017 lists Slutsky and Levithan as trustees, as well as John L. Berger. 42
In addition, Wellspring has posted a number of positions stressing “social justice, including racial and gender equity as an organizational operating principle,” as qualifications. 0){
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