Gayle Benson
American businesswoman and sports executive (born 1947)
Source: Wikidata — retrieved 8/30/2026 (wikidata)
Profile Summary
Gayle Benson is an American businesswoman and sports executive from Louisiana, born in 1947. She has an estimated net worth of ~$7.9 billion Wikidata.
Business & SEC Activity
Benson is identified in news coverage as the owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, making sports the central industry associated with her public profile NewsAPI.
Philanthropy
Three Benson Family Foundation filings report $15.8 million in combined assets and $1.57 million in grants paid across the available records ProPublica 990. Two foundations reported 2023 grants of $787,621 and $779,388, while a third foundation reported $0 in grants paid for 2019 ProPublica 990.
Political Activity
The available FEC data contains at least 100 federal contributions; the figures cover only the most recent 100 contributions on file, not her full history FEC. In this sample, contributions totaled $49,554.17, including $18,500 to Republican recipients and $31,054.17 classified as PAC/Other; the largest listed recipient was the Johnson Leadership Fund with $20,000 FEC.
In the News
Recent coverage reported that Benson presented Drew Brees with a No. 9 jersey placed on Tom Benson’s statue at the Pro Football Hall of Fame NewsAPI. Other coverage reported that she received a service award in Washington, D.C. NewsAPI.
U.S. Presence
Philanthropy
Foundations are matched to a person by name, not by trustee records — so a same-surname family foundation can land here in error. Every entity below links to its full IRS filing; if one doesn’t belong, tell us at hello@skylarkcreations.com and we’ll pull it.
Political Contributions
These figures cover the 100 most recent federal contributions on file, not the full record. The total, party split, top recipients and dates below are all computed over that sample, so each is a floor rather than a complete figure.
By Party (in the sample)
Top Recipients (in the sample)
Matched by name only. These are the donations the FEC lists under this person’s name — so a different person with the same name can show up here too.
Score Breakdown
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.
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
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 8/31/2026 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. View on Wikidata