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Gary Michelson

CaliforniaHealthcareGiving Pledge

AIProfile Summary

Gary Michelson is a California-based U.S. billionaire in healthcare, born in 1949, with an estimated net worth of ~$1.8B RTB. He is identified in the data as a Giving Pledge signatory Wikidata. The available records do not include details on how he built his wealth, so this profile is limited to the facts provided.

Philanthropy

Michelson is linked to three foundations in the data, with total reported grants paid of $763,875 and total reported assets of $15,729,828 ProPublica 990. The Michelson Foundation reported $736,975 in grants paid in tax year 2023 and $15,314,642 in assets, while the Michelson Foundation Charitable Trust reported $26,900 in grants paid and $415,186 in assets ProPublica 990. The Michelson Family Foundation in Culver City reported $0 in grants paid, $0 in assets, $0 in revenue, and $0 in expenses in the available filing data ProPublica 990.

Political Activity

From 2020-09-03 to 2025-12-10, Michelson made 100 FEC-recorded contributions totaling $346,100 FEC. The largest share went to Democrats: $204,100 to DEM recipients, compared with $16,700 to REP recipients, $3,300 to IND recipients, and $122,000 categorized as Unknown FEC. Top recipients included Animal Wellness Action PAC ($25,000), Purpose PAC ($20,000), Mike Levin for Congress ($16,500), Ted Lieu for Congress ($16,400), and Ro for Congress Inc. ($15,900) FEC.

In the News

No validated news articles were returned in the provided GDELT data NewsAPI.

AI-generated summary from fec, gdelt, rtb, propublica_990, giving_pledge 6/27/2026 (gpt-5.4-mini). All claims are derived from the source data shown below.

USU.S. Presence

residenceLos Angeles, California

990Philanthropy

$15.7MFoundation Assets
$764KGrants Paid
3Foundations
Michelson FoundationScottsdale, AZ
Assets: $15.3MRevenue: $354KGrants: $737KTax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Michelson Family FoundationCulver City, CA
International & foreign affairs (IRS NTEE Q11)
Assets: $0Revenue: $0Grants: $0
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Michelson Foundation Charitable TrustAkron, OH
Assets: $415KRevenue: $17KGrants: $27KTax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Source: ProPublica (990) annual filing · latest on record (retrieved 3/9/2026) (proPublica_990)

FECPolitical Contributions

$346KTotal Contributed
100Contributions
2020–2025Date Range

By Party

DEM
$204K
Unknown
$122K
REP
$17K
IND
$3K

Top Recipients

ANIMAL WELLNESS ACTION PAC$25K
PURPOSE PAC$20K
MIKE LEVIN FOR CONGRESS$17K
TED LIEU FOR CONGRESS$16K
RO FOR CONGRESS INC$16K
Source: FEC contribution filings · latest on record (retrieved 3/10/2026) (fec)

PBSScore Breakdown

C
43.0
Public Benefit Score

The PBS is a weighted average of 2 components. The formula is open and versioned — the weight percentages below show how much each component contributes to the final score.

Philanthropy65% weight
26%

Evidenced charitable giving — built on what they actually give each year, not parked assets. Dominated by generosity (annual giving relative to net worth — the share of your fortune you give), plus the absolute scale of that giving, plus a small nudge for signing the Giving Pledge (a commitment, not a realized action).

Data: ProPublica 990 charitable disbursements, net worth, The Giving Pledge registry

Transparency35% weight
75%

How much sourced, public accountability data exists — net worth, political contributions, SEC filings, foundation 990s, news coverage, and a verified profile. More public disclosure scores higher.

Data: FEC, SEC EDGAR, ProPublica 990s, GDELT / NewsAPI, Wikidata

Formula (v2): PBS = 65% x Philanthropy + 35% x Transparency

Scored on 6/23/2026 on a 0–100 scale. The score uses only the signals we have populated data for. Goal Impact, Controversy, and Community Approval are deferred until that data exists — Phase 1 goal adoption, controversy detection, and community votes respectively.

All data is sourced from public records. Each section links to its original source.

Gary Michelson — Public Benefit Score C (43) | Billionaire Army