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Gary Magness

ColoradoMedia

AIProfile Summary

Gary Magness (born 1954) is a U.S.-based billionaire in the media industry, associated with Colorado, with an estimated net worth of ~$1.4B. SEC filings show an entity listed as “MAGNESS GARY D” with a personal CIK and a history of ownership-related disclosures and insider reports tied to multiple companies. His recorded federal political giving spans 1980–2023 and totals $11,433. RTB SEC EDGAR FEC

Business & SEC Activity

SEC EDGAR lists “MAGNESS GARY D” as a filer with 26 total filings, all counted as insider filings, and 49 EDGAR search hits. The filing history includes Schedule 13D/13D-A reports (used to disclose beneficial ownership stakes of 5% or more and related intentions) and Forms 4/5 (used to report insider transactions and annual insider holdings updates), with examples from 2001–2004 and a Form 3/A dated 2026-01-22 (an amendment to an initial insider ownership statement). Companies appearing in the filings include General Communication Inc / GCI Inc and Workhorse Group Inc. SEC EDGAR

Philanthropy

The Gary Magness Family Foundation (Denver, CO) reported $2,100,334 in total assets in tax year 2023, with $0 grants paid, $192 in total revenue, and $326,111 in total expenses. The Magness Public Library Foundation (McMinnville, TN) reported $3,509,850 in total assets in tax year 2021 and paid $35,147 in grants, with $74,713 in total revenue and $88,072 in total expenses. Across the two foundations listed, total assets were $5,610,184 and total grants paid were $35,147 for the years shown. ProPublica 990

Political Activity

Federal Election Commission records show 15 contributions totaling $11,433 from 1980-04-18 to 2023-08-20. By party coding, $5,400 went to Republican recipients, $500 to Democratic recipients, $5,200 to a non-party/other-coded recipient (NNE), and $333 was coded as unknown. The largest listed recipients were Marianne Williamson for Congress ($5,200) and Aadland for Colorado ($2,900), followed by John McCain 2008 Inc. ($1,000) and Friends of Senator Don Nickles ($1,000). FEC

AI-generated summary from propublica_990, fec, rtb, sec_edgar 3/10/2026 (gpt-5.2). All claims are derived from the source data shown below.

USU.S. Presence

residenceDenver, Colorado

990Philanthropy

$5.6MFoundation Assets
$401KGrants Paid
2Foundations
Gary Magness Family FoundationDenver, CO
Private independent foundation (IRS NTEE T22)
Assets: $2.1MRevenue: $192Grants: $312KTax Year: 2023
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Magness Public Library FoundationMcminnville, TN
Education (IRS NTEE B11)
Assets: $3.5MRevenue: $75KGrants: $88KTax Year: 2021
Mission, purpose & full 990 filings → ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Source: ProPublica (990) annual filing · latest on record (retrieved 3/9/2026) (proPublica_990)

FECPolitical Contributions

$11KTotal Contributed
15Contributions
1980–2023Date Range

By Party

REP
$5K
NNE
$5K
DEM
$500
Unknown
$333

Top Recipients

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON FOR CONGRESS$5K
AADLAND FOR COLORADO$3K
JOHN MCCAIN 2008 INC.$1K
FRIENDS OF SENATOR DON NICKLES$1K
ANDY COATS FOR US SENATE$500
Source: FEC contribution filings · latest on record (retrieved 3/10/2026) (fec)

SECSEC Filings

26Total Filings
26Insider Filings
49EDGAR Mentions
0000941542Personal CIK

Associated Companies

Entities appearing alongside this person in SEC full-text search — an association, not necessarily ownership or control. Follow each link to the primary SEC record to judge for yourself.

Recent Insider Filings

3/A3/A
1/22/2026
SC 13D/ASC 13D/A
12/8/2004
44
3/5/2004
SC 13D/ASC 13D/A
3/3/2004
55
2/17/2004
4/A4/A
1/23/2003
SC 13D/ASC 13D/A
12/10/2002
44
12/2/2002
44
11/26/2002
SC 13DSCHEDULE 13D
9/28/2001
Source: SEC EDGAR regulatory filings · latest on record (retrieved 3/9/2026) (sec_derived)

PBSScore Breakdown

C
31.7
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
8%

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 Magness — Public Benefit Score C (32) | Billionaire Army