The Paul E. Singer Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation run by hedge fund manager and political donor Paul Singer that provides financial support to initiatives and organizations that advocate policies promoting free-market economics, U.S. national security, LGBT interests, and what it considers “intellectual diversity” on college campuses and universities. ¹

Grantmaking

In 2021, the Paul E. Singer Foundation donated $68 million to the J.P. Morgan Charitable Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund that works in conjunction with National Philanthropic Trust, which manages social impact investment and donor-advised fund accounts. That same year, the Foundation’s second largest donation ($1.635 million) was to the New York-based right-of-center think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. ²

The Paul E. Singer Foundation has donated to pro-Israel organizations and movements. In 2021, the foundation provided grants to Boundless Israel ($125,000), the Israel America Academic Exchange ($300,000), the Birthright Israel Foundation ($918,750 ), the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York ($550,000), the Jewish Agency for Israel ($550,000), the Jewish Funders Network ($110,000) and the UJA Federation of New York ($755,000). ²

Funding

According to tax filings, the Singer Family Charitable Foundation contributed $90 million in common shares of Elliot International Limited to the Paul E. Singer Foundation in 2010, the same year the foundation gained tax-exempt status. ³

The Paul E. Singer Foundation has also received funding from Paul Singer through donations and common shares of Elliot International Limited. From 2010 through 2016, those contributions totaled nearly $35.5 million in cash and $641 million in shares. ⁴

Leadership

Paul E. Singer is the president and treasurer of the Paul E. Singer Foundation, the president of the Singer Family Charitable Foundation, and the founder, president, co-CEO, and co-CIO of Elliott Investment Management. Singer is a cofounder of Start-Up Nation Central and chair of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. ⁵ In 2012, Singer donated $1 million towards the founding of the American Unity PAC. ⁶

Myron Kaplan is the secretary of the board of the Paul E. Singer Foundation and a founder member of the law firm Kleinberg Kaplan. Kaplan is the chair of the board of CorMedix and a trustee of the Lehman Brothers Plan Holding Trust. ⁷

Terry Kassell is the head of strategic human resources at Elliott Investment Management and a former global head of human resources at Merrill Lynch. Kassell is the chair of the board of Start-Up Nation Central and sits on the boards of OneTable, Tikvah, and the Jewish Food Society as of 2025. ⁸

Daniel Senor is the chief public affairs officer at Elliott Investment Management and sits on the board of Start-Up Nation Central. Senor is a former senior advisor to former U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and is the author of The Genius of Israel and Start-Up Nation. ⁹

Daniel Bonner is the executive director of the Paul E. Singer Foundation and member of its board. Bonner is a Sacks Scholar with the Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust, a senior advisor at the Paul E. Singer Family Office, and sits on the board of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel. ¹⁰

Other members of the board include Anne G. Dickerson and Harry Z. Cohen, who is also the head of strategy at the Foundation. ¹¹

Aaron MacLean is the senior director of the Paul E. Singer Foundation, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and sits on the board of Philanthropy Roundtable. ¹²

1. “The Foundation.” The Paul E. Singer Foundation. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://thepesfoundation.org/the-foundation/.
2. The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2021, Part XIV, Line 3.
3. The Paul Singer Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2009, Attachment, Part III, Line 5 on page 2.
4. The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2010-2016, Schedule B, Parts I and II.
5. “Paul E. Singer.” The Paul E. Singer Foundation. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://thepesfoundation.org/paul-singer/.
6. “American Unity PAC.” Ballotpedia. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/American_Unity_PAC.
7.  “Board of Directors.” CoeMedix. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://cormedix.com/board-of-directors/.
8.  “Terry Kassel.” Elliott Investment Management. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.elliottmgmt.com/who-we-are/terry-kassel/.
9. “Dan Senor.” Elliott Investment Management. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.elliottmgmt.com/who-we-are/dan-senor/.
10. “Daniel Bonner.” The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://rabbisacks.org/sacks-scholars/daniel-bonner/.
11.  The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2021, Part VII, Line 1.
12. “Aaron MacLean.” Philanthropy Roundtable. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/team/aaron-maclean/.