Jeffrey Yass

Background

Before Yass became involved in finance, he spent a year and a half after graduating from college playing poker at a professional level in Las Vegas, and in July 1985, along with three friends, he developed a statistics-based trading strategy to successfully bet on the outcomes of horse races. ²

Activities and Advocacy

Susquehanna International Group

In 1987, Yass, along with friends Arthur Dantchik and Joel Greenberg, cofounded Susquehanna International Group, naming the company after a river connecting Binghamton, New York, and Pennsylvania. ² The company utilized rapid computer-driven trading methods to buy and sell options and other securities, often acting as a middleman in connection with consumer trading applications such as Robinhood and E-Trade. Notably, on October 19, 1987, known as Black Monday, Susquehanna made an investment on options that would rise in value if stocks went down in value, making it one of the few firms to profit on the day. ²

The Susquehanna Foundation, which was founded in April 1994 and makes grants to libertarian-aligned causes and charter school programs, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt counterpart of the Susquehanna International Group based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. ³

It was reported by The Wall Street Journal that by 2020, the Susquehanna Foundation owned at least 15% of ByteDance, a digital technology firm and the parent company of social media platform TikTok, with a stake estimated as much as $15 billion. Further data used by the Journal showed that Susquehanna was part of a $5 million investment towards ByteDance in 2012 when the firm was founded. ^{4 5 6}

Tax Accounting

According to a report published by ProPublica on June 21, 2022, Yass, uses the “same prowess” he has in financial markets to reduce his tax bill. In the six years prior to the report’s publication, Yass reportedly saved at least $1 billion in taxes, paying an average federal income tax rate of 19%, which is lower than that paid by other Wall Street traders. ⁷

Yass’ tax accounting has reportedly been the subject of multiple audits conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, sometimes involving multi-year litigation in federal court. Reportedly, Yass’s low rate of taxation is particularly notable because Susquehanna International Group specializes in short-term trading, which is typically taxed at rates of roughly 40 percent. ²

Cato Institute

Jeff Yass is the vice chairman of the board of directors of the Cato Institute, a think tank and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Libertarian Party activist Ed Crane, economist Murray Rothbard, and businessman Charles Koch. ^{8 9}

Philanthropy and Political Donations

Charter School Programs

Yass has donated to right-of-center causes such as advocacy for reducing taxes and charter school programs.  He also donates to political candidates, spending over $100 million on election campaigns alone. To that end, Yass has also made over $32 million in donations to the economically conservative Club for Growth; $2.5 million to the Protect Freedom PAC; and 15 million as the sole funder of the School Freedom Fund, a political action committee. Notably, however, Yass also donates to Democratic politicians. For instance, a ProPublica report describes him as a “longtime financial patron of a Democratic state senator, Anthony Williams,” a state legislator notable for his support for tax-incentives benefitting charter school programs. ²

Kohelet Policy Institute

Reports by The Washington Post claim that Susquehanna Foundation co-founder Arthur Dantchik is a donor towards The Kohelet Policy Institute, an Israeli think-tank that reportedly helped with the authoring of several controversial judicial policy reforms introduced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that had been delayed from being implemented as of March 2023. ^{10 11} Although a 2021 investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed that Yass had also donated millions to Kohelet Policy Institute through third party groups, an anonymous source close to the men reported to the Washington Post that even though Dantchik is not the sole funder Yass had never donated to the Israeli think tank. ¹⁰ As of March 2023, neither Dantchik nor Yass have confirmed to be donors to the think tank. ⁶

2022 Political Donations

According to Business Insider, Yass and his wife Janine Yass contributed roughly $54 million in political donations towards candidate campaigns and Super PACs during the 2022 election cycle. ⁶

2024 Political Donations

According to the New York Times, Yass donated roughly $100 million to political and federal campaigns during the 2024 Presidential Election cycle with most going towards political action committees (PACs) supporting the campaigns of Republicans running for office in Congress. In 2024, he reportedly donated 90% of the total funds raised for the campaign of Dave Sunday, who ran that year as the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s state attorney general. Sunday won the election with 51 percent of the vote, and was later sworn in by January 2025. ^{12 13}

2026 Political Donations

According to the New York Times, as of March 2026 Yass has donated roughly $55 million to federal campaigns prior to the 2026 November Midterm elections. ¹²

The Claws Foundation

According to Inside Philanthropy, Yass co-founded, with Dantchik, and sits on the board of The Claws Foundation, a private organization and primary philanthropic vehicle for both men. In addition, Inside Philanthropy reported that the Claws Foundation had provided donations to several right-of-center organizations including Institute for Justice, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Students for Liberty, the Mercatus Center, the Atlas Network and the Ayn Rand Institute. Donations have also been reported going top public charity group Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund (Fidelity Charitable). ⁶