The Economic Innovation Group is a research organization that focuses on economic advancement for entrepreneurs and economically challenged demographics. In the wake of the 2008-2009 recession, a group of entrepreneurs including Napster co-founder Sean Parker and angel investor Ron Conway launched the group to promote alternative methods of economic recovery. While the organization formally was launched in 2015, its development began approximately a year and a half prior. ¹

While the Economic Innovation Group presents itself as bi-partisan and has supported initiatives spearheaded by Republicans (most notably “Opportunity Zones,” a tax-code preference for investments in distressed communities²), its CEOs have been advisors and staffers for President Barack Obama and former Obama administration Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who had previously served as a Republican Senator from Nebraska.

Sean Parker

Facebook founding president and Napster co-founder Sean Parker founded Economic Innovation Group and is its executive chairman. Parker provided strategic council and capital for Mark Zuckerberg when he first started Facebook, earning the 24-year-old Parker the position of president of Facebook. ³

He left Facebook after an arrest on suspicion of cocaine procession. No charges were made but Facebook’s first investor, PayPal founder Peter Thiel, convinced Parker to resign from Facebook after the arrest. Thiel then hired Parker as a general partner with the Founders Fund. ⁴ In 2017, Parker expressed his regret for helping Facebook grow, claiming the social media platform adversely affected its users:  “It’s a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” ⁵

Parker is a philanthropist, notably donating $24 million to Stanford University’s medical school to help launch an allergy research center. ⁶

Politically, Parker has donated to both Republican and Democratic initiatives and fundraised for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign. He partnered with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) to help strategize the best way to invest in “opportunity zones.” The initiative was part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and aimed to reduce taxes on major companies which pushed capital into lower-income communities. ⁷

Leadership

Co-founder and former CEO Steve Glickman served as an advisor to President Barack Obama, and co-founder and CEO John Lettieri served on staff with Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, later Defense Secretary in the Obama administration. ⁸

Finances

(2017)⁹

Revenue: $2,963,062

Expenses: $3,061,313

Assets: $587,580

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7. Bertoni, Steven. “An Unlikely Group Of Billionaires And Politicians Has Created The Most Unbelievable Tax Break Ever.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, January 3, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesdigitalcovers/2018/07/17/an-unlikely-group-of-billionaires-and-politicians-has-created-the-most-unbelievable-tax-break-ever/#1a2a69131485.
8. “John Lettieri.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, July 31, 2018. https://www.uschamber.com/john-lettieri.
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