History of Corporate Funding of Conservative Think Tanks Corporate funding for right-wing policy work has its roots in the 1970s, when leading conservative thinkers appealed to corporations to fund intellectuals who supported their economic interests. Irving Kristol, in his 1978 book "Two Cheers for Capitalism", argued that corporations should make "philantrophic contributions to scholars and institutions who are likely to advocate preservation of a strong private sector.". At the same time think tank entrepreneurs like Ed Feulner of Heritage and Edward Crane of CATO moved to cultivate corporate allies. At most conservative think tanks, corporate leaders now make up the overwhelming majority of board members.

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Examples of Mainly Corporate Funded Think Tanks: Brookings Institution With a budget of US$ 23 million and assets worth US$ 192 million the Brookings Institution, based in Washington D.C., in 1998 was funded by: Corporate and private donations (38 %), endowment (30 %), revenue from conferences and seminars (18 %), sales of publications (9 %), government support (2 %). Among the 138 corporate donors are: Bell Atlantic, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, NationsBank, Exxon, Chevron, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Dupont, Mobil and Lockheed Martin, and the foundations of companies like American Express, Travelers, AT&T and McDonnell Douglas. A few media conglomerates, like Time Warner and the Washington Post Co.. Contributions of individual donors include executives from Visa, Procter and Gamble, BankAmerica and U.S. Airways.

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