Richard M. Scaife

Richard Mellon Scaife is the owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, heir to the Mellon fortune, and is estimated to be worth $1.2 billion. Scaife donates heavily to right-wing think tanks, foundations and organizations. Forbes.com describes him as a “Far-right Republican who has supported controversial causes including a program encouraging drug addicts to be sterilized.” Scaife’s wealth is partitioned into three foundations, Sarah Scaife, the Allegheny Foundation and the Carthage Foundation. These foundations in turn, have donated to the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Security Policy, the Manhattan Institute, the Independent Women’s Forum, among many others. According the Institute for Policy Studies Right Web, Scaife is strategic in his donations, giving to different organizations to support projects on the same topic. This leads to an “illusion that there is a far greater diversity of views than actually exists.” Scaife is a board member at the Heritage Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors for the Hoover Institution.