# Examples of financially successful Liberal businessmen and entrepreneurs **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393 "2009-03-31T03:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/1 "2009-03-31T03:13:13Z")
I generally associate successful businessmen and entrepreneurs as being at least fiscally conservative. Not surprising as they would tend to be against government intervention and people telling them where to spend their money. Are there examples of successful Liberal businessmen and entrepreneurs? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/2 "2009-03-31T03:32:13Z")
[Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.](http://www.benjerry.com/) Working from memory, they did have a company rule about how much the executives could make relative to the hourly workers. Don’t know where that stands now(their website is not dialup friendly) but the company does support a number of causes. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/3 "2009-03-31T03:32:15Z")
Try [George Soros](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_soros). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/4 "2009-03-31T03:33:14Z")
Not quite sure who you’d hold up as a “fiscal liberal” … but for overall liberal and for promoting some reasonable but not excessive governmental intervention I submit [George Soros.](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22113) (Okay on edit beat to that but the article is good) And [Warren Buffet](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062700097.html) pretty famously believes that the rich pay too little taxes. And of course many of the Hollywood big money types are famously bastions of liberality. And Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google are reported to pretty liberal folks. Big on renewables and global warming and all that. Just right of the top of my head anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/5 "2009-03-31T03:34:02Z")
Well, George Soros. Warren Buffett is generally liberal. So is Steve Jobs, of Apple fame. Then, of course, Robert Rubin of Goldman Sachs, and then later of Citigroup was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury. This is just off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/6 "2009-03-31T03:34:14Z")
Ben and Gerry sold out btw. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/7 "2009-03-31T03:36:57Z")
Ah, also Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/8 "2009-03-31T03:37:22Z")
And for a bit further in the past, [Joseph Rowntree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rowntree_(philanthropist)). There was quite the nineteenth century movement of successfull businessmen in the UK who realized that inequality and oppression were not conducive to a society where they could make money in the long term. [Robert Owen](http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/owen.html) too was central to this movement. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/9 "2009-03-31T03:39:04Z")
Herb and Marion Sandler, formerly of Golden West Financial Corp. Andy Rappaport of August Capital. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/10 "2009-03-31T03:44:07Z")
Most successful tech companies have liberal founders and management. Google’s CEO, for example, was a strong Obama supporter. Most rich Hollywood businessmen are liberal as well, famously so. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/11 "2009-03-31T03:45:39Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Ben and Gerry sold out btw. Literally. I thought I remembered that but wasn’t sure. The company is still pretty liberal,though. Here’s their [Mission Statement.](http://www.benjerry.com/activism/mission-statement/) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/12 "2009-03-31T04:06:56Z")
Did you have a point that you had wanted to make about this **msmith**? Was this supposed to be the preamble to some debate? Or was this just a misplaced GQ? (To which you’ve gotten your answer: yes, many.) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/13 "2009-03-31T04:41:13Z")
Along with **DSeid** , I’m not sure what you mean by “liberal”, but I should think that [Jim Goodnight](http://www.sas.com/presscenter/bios/jgoodnight.html) (of SAS software, renowned for their corporate culture and resultant employee loyalty) would count. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/14 "2009-03-31T05:01:30Z")
I don’t know it it qualifies as Liberal, but what [Aaron Feuerstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Feuerstein) did wasn’t the usual action expected from a CEO. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/15 "2009-03-31T05:21:47Z")
According to my parents, Bill Gates has been becoming more liberal over the last decade. Prior to that, I’m not sure if he was political at all, really. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/16 "2009-03-31T06:03:41Z")
Ah let’s keep playing. Oprah is pretty damn successful and pretty liberal. [Carlos Slim Helu](http://www.carlosslim.com/desde_ing.html), possibly richer than Gates, is a signator to > [@](#): > > The Chapultepec Agreement, whose full name is the National Agreement for Unity, Rule of Law, Development, Investment and Employment, is a document signed by many segments of Mexican society, including politicians, athletes, academics, farmers, businessmen, students, intellectuals, media, professionals, artists and other members of civil society, all of whom have accepted joint responsibility for the growth of the country, respectful of the State’s constitutional role, to coordinate and lead the effort of all Mexicans in the growth and development of Mexico Is billionaire Michael Bloomberg a fiscal conservative? Not to hear many conservatives tell it. Stefan Persson, worth $14.5 billion, lives in Sweden. Need we say more? [Ron Perelman](http://www.observer.com/mobile/article/80804) has certainly donated much to Democratic candidates and was one of the big donors to the Obama inauguration fete. Not clear on what his political POV is though. Again, did you have a point in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/17 "2009-03-31T12:03:23Z")
Paul Newman managed to generate a quarter billion dollars in profits selling salad dressing, I’d consider that pretty successful, and he even made it on Nixon’s enemies list. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/18 "2009-03-31T13:12:09Z")
I don’t think you can get much further left than the late [Dame Anita Roddick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Roddick), founder of _The Body Shop_. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/19 "2009-03-31T13:16:26Z")
I’d be interested in knowing how Andrew Carnegie would describe himself, politically. He used the term “positivist”, and few of his philanthropic contributions could have been described as going to conservative causes. He was the richest man in the world, and made it very clear he thought the purpose of wealth was to redistribute it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393/20 "2009-03-31T13:22:04Z")
You could fill this thread just with Hollywood producers and studio kings. Heck, my Dad was a tremendously successful businessman currently living on a pile of money he earned selling his business, and he’s well left of centre. It’s a strange question, really. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-financially-successful-liberal-businessmen-and-entrepreneurs/491393.md?page=2)