Catalyst4 is a grantmaking nonprofit founded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin primarily with the proceeds from the sale of Tesla stock after Brin had a dispute with Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk. ^{1 2 3 4}

Founding

Google co-founder Sergey Brin was an early investor in Tesla after its acquisition by Elon Musk. In 2008, a $500,000 investment from Brin saved the company from bankruptcy. ⁵

In December 2021, Brin sold his shares in Tesla due to a dispute with Musk over Musk’s alleged affair with Brin’s then-wife, Nicole Shanahan. Musk and Shanahan both denied the allegation, but Brin divorced Shanahan in January 2022. In 2021, Brin used the proceeds of the sale to launch Catalyst4 with $366 million. The sale was completed near the top of Tesla’s valuation, as the stock would lose 65% of its value the following year. ^{6 7 8 9}

News outlets, including The Street and the Observer, have speculated that Brin uses Catalyst4 to take tax advantages of through a 501(c)(4) nonprofit structure. ^{10 11}

By the end of 2021, Brin had donated a total of $472,857,374 to Catalyst4. ¹² As of 2024, Catalyst4 retained control of $78 million worth of shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. ¹³

Grants

In February 2024, Catalyst4 and Builders VC, a venture capital group run by San Fransisco 49ers co-owner Gideon Yu, invested $15 million into 280 Earth, a company dedicated to developing carbon capture technology that was spun off from X, Alphabet’s division for developing new technologies. ^{14 15}

According to Catalyst4’s tax forms, in 2022 the organization spent almost $13 million on combatting climate change and almost $78,000 on research into neurological disorders. ¹⁶

In 2022, Catalyst4 gave $7 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, one of many large left-of-center nonprofits operated by Arabella Advisors, for “environmental programs.” Catalyst4 donated $5.7 million to the Energy Action Fund, a funder of policies to promote weather-dependent energy sources, for the same purpose. ¹⁷

Lobbying

In 2023, Catalyst spent $150,000 on lobbying through the firm, FGS Global, on behalf of WastewaterSCAN, a project that monitors wastewater for diseases. ^{18 19}

Leadership

Sergey Brin is a Russian-American billionaire and the world’s seventh-richest person as of early 2021. Brin is best known as the co-founder of Google and its parent company Alphabet. Brin has donated billions of dollars through the Google Foundation, the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, and the defunct Brin Wojcicki Foundation, which Brin had co-operated with his now ex-wife, Anne Wojcicki. Brin has expressed support for the Democratic Party and left-of-center political views and has donated to numerous Democratic politicians. ^{20 21}

Ekemini Riley is a board member of Catalyst4. Riley is the founder and president of the Coalition for Aligning Science, a consulting firm focused on the intersection of science policy and social impacts. Riley was also the managing director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s, an initiative created by the Milken Institute’s Center for Strategic Philanthropy and financed by Brin through the Sergey Brin Family Foundation. ^{22 23 24}

Tara Farnsworth is the secretary and treasurer of Catalyst4. She is also the treasurer of the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, and as the chief financial officer of Bayshore Global Management, Brin’s family financial company. ^{25 26}

1. “Google co-founder starts climate change nonprofit with Tesla shares.” Candid. April 30, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/google-co-founder-starts-climate-change-nonprofit-with-tesla-shares.
2. Carson, Biz; Steverman, Ben. “Billionaire Brin Sold Tesla Near Its Peak for New Giving Vehicle.” Bloomberg. April 22, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-22/billionaire-brin-sold-tesla-near-its-peak-for-new-giving-vehicle.
3. Cao, Sissi. “Google’s Sergey Brin Dumped $366M Tesla Stock to Start an Unusual Nonprofit.” Observer. April 25, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://observer.com/2023/04/google-sergey-brin-sell-tesla-nonprofit/.
4. Olinga, Luc. “Google Co-Founder Brin Deals a Blow to Musk and Tesla.” TheStreet. April 24, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.thestreet.com/technology/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-deals-a-blow-to-musk-and-tesla.
5. Cao, Sissi. “Google’s Sergey Brin Dumped $366M Tesla Stock to Start an Unusual Nonprofit.” Observer. April 25, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://observer.com/2023/04/google-sergey-brin-sell-tesla-nonprofit/.
6. “Google co-founder starts climate change nonprofit with Tesla shares.” Candid. April 30, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/google-co-founder-starts-climate-change-nonprofit-with-tesla-shares.
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8. Cao, Sissi. “Google’s Sergey Brin Dumped $366M Tesla Stock to Start an Unusual Nonprofit.” Observer. April 25, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://observer.com/2023/04/google-sergey-brin-sell-tesla-nonprofit/.
9. Olinga, Luc. “Google Co-Founder Brin Deals a Blow to Musk and Tesla.” TheStreet. April 24, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.thestreet.com/technology/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-deals-a-blow-to-musk-and-tesla.
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11. Cao, Sissi. “Google’s Sergey Brin Dumped $366M Tesla Stock to Start an Unusual Nonprofit.” Observer. April 25, 2023. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://observer.com/2023/04/google-sergey-brin-sell-tesla-nonprofit/.
12.  “Catalyst4 Inc Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873323607/202203189349316460/full.
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14. “Maneet Singh.” LinkedIn. February 2024. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maneet-singh-95b5576a_sergey-brin-backed-startup-leverages-data-activity-7160459999582863360-Miub/.
15. “Sergey Brin-Backed Startup Leverages Data Centers to Capture Carbon.” Energy Connects. February 5, 2024. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.energyconnects.com/news/renewables/2024/february/sergey-brin-backed-startup-leverages-data-centers-to-capture-carbon/.
16. “Catalyst4 Inc Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873323607/202333189349316263/full.
17. “Catalyst4 Inc Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873323607/202333189349316263/full.
18. “Lobbying Firm Profile: FGS Global.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2023&id=D000034089.
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22. “Catalyst4 Inc Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873323607/202333189349316263/full.
23. “Ekemini A. Udofa Riley, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekeminiriley/.
24. “Who We Are.” ASAP. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://parkinsonsroadmap.org/who-we-are/#.
25. “Catalyst4 Inc Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873323607/202333189349316263/full.
26. Price, Rob; Langley, Hugh. “Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave $438 million to charities through their foundations last year. Here’s where the tech gurus’ huge donations went.” Business Insider. December 14, 2022. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://www.businessinsider.com/google-cofounders-larry-page-sergey-brin-millions-charities-donations-2022-12.