Highlights
This week, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) published a new resource that shows the nonprofit continues to hypocritically advocate for policies broadly out of touch with most Americans. The publication, which PESP calls the Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker, criticizes the private equity industry’s involvement in the justice system and claims that the Trump administration’s immigration policies will lead to a surge in profits.
But the criticism of President Trump’s policies belies the fact that a large majority of Americans support his handling of the border. An April Fox News poll found that 55% of Americans approve of the way the president is handling border security. Immigration is also frequently cited as one of the top reasons why a majority of Americans voted to send him back to the White House.
PESP would be far better served by looking in the mirror, since several of its own donors are actually invested in the detention and surveillance sectors it criticizes in this week’s report. Indeed, two of PESP’s top donors, the Melville Charitable Trust ($500,000 to PESP since 2020) and the Omidyar Network Fund ($120,000 to PESP in 2021), are invested in this industry. Specifically, Melville’s 2022 Form 990, the nonprofit has invested $1,082,249 in HIG Middle Market LBO Fund III (PESP criticizes HIG in this week’s report and has previously published negative commentary on HIG). Meanwhile, Omidyar is invested in companies that deem themselves “Uber for bodyguards” and an AI-security camera producer that can identify individuals.
PESP’s stance against private equity’s involvement in the justice system appears to be more about posturing than principled opposition. While the group criticizes these investments, some of its own leading funders maintain financial ties to the very industry it denounces. Rather than criticize others, PESP should instead address the apparent double standard within its own funding network.