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Home / Foundations / Barre Seid gave his company to a new 501(c)(4) run by Leonard Leo, a $1.6 billion political…
Case file s545 · Foundations · 2022
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2022
Died
"living; reported 22 August 2022"
Place
Chicago, Illinois · United States
Field
electrical equipment manufacturing · Politics and government on the timeline
Legal tradition
US federal tax law (IRC 501(c)(4)) · Common law
Historical event
Post-Citizens United growth of politically active nonprofits
FoundationsSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaUnited States
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Barre Seid gave his company to a new 501(c)(4) run by Leonard Leo, a $1.6 billion political gift that avoided up to $400 million in tax

Barre Seid ran Tripp Lite, a Chicago maker of surge protectors and data-center equipment, for more than half a century and owned 100% of it. His income reached about $157 million in 2018, ProPublica reported from tax records. The Marble Freedom Trust, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, was formed in April 2020 with conservative legal activist Leonard Leo as trustee and chairman†. Seid gave it all of Tripp Lite's stock. In March 2021 the trust sold the company to Eaton for $1.65 billion†. Because Seid gave the shares before the sale, he paid no capital gains tax on them; ProPublica reported the structure let him avoid as much as $400 million in taxes. The gift was anonymous; The New York Times identified Seid in August 2022 and called it among the largest single contributions ever to a politically focused nonprofit. In the year to April 2022 the trust gave $182.7 million to other groups†. A 501(c)(4) need not disclose donors publicly.

What the law took from it

Giving appreciated private-company stock to a 501(c)(4) before a sale removes the gain from the owner's tax bill and puts the cash under the control of whoever runs the group.

Sources
  1. propublica.orgPress
  2. The New York TimesPress
  3. ProPublicaPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Barre Seid gave his company to a new 501(c)(4) run by Leonard Leo, a $1.6 billion political gift that avoided up to $400 million in tax,” story s545, https://www.celebrity.estate/barre-seid-2022, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

FoundationsSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States