Logo for InfluenceWatch InfluenceWatch

Donate
Person

Steven Spielberg

Type:

American Filmmaker
Born:

1946
Residence:

Los Angeles, CA

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Steven Spielberg is an American film director, producer, and industry executive. 1 Spielberg is a  long-time philanthropist with foundations supporting arts, social services, education, and health, and Jewish causes. Spielberg is also a major donor to Democratic Party candidates and left-of-center advocacy causes. 2

Spielberg is reportedly one of the most awarded American filmmakers in history, receiving a record thirteen “Best Picture” Academy Award nominations as of 2024. 1 3 In 2015, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama for his contributions to the arts, as well as his philanthropy and activism related to Holocaust education. 4

Spielberg’s net worth has been estimated by Forbes at $5.3 billion. 2

Philanthropy

Steven Spielberg’s philanthropy is often done jointly with his wife, actress Kate Capshaw. 5 The two have funded several grant-making foundations including the Wunderkinder Foundation, the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California, the Righteous Persons Foundation, and the Hearthland Foundation. 5 6

Support for Jewish Causes

In 1994, Steven Spielberg founded the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California to preserve the memory of the Holocaust by collecting survivors’ testimonies. 5

In 1995, Spielberg and Kate Capshaw founded the Righteous Persons Foundation, using a portion of the filmmaker’s profits from his award-winning Holocaust drama, Schindler’s List. 5 The foundation’s grants support Jewish arts, culture, and social service initiatives, as well as support Holocaust survivors. 7 It has also contributed to organizations that promote left-of-center “social justice” advocacy that seek to respond to the “climate crisis,” and that “resist the Trump agenda.” 8

In 2021, Steven Spielberg was given the Genesis Prize, an international award that recognizes “outstanding professional achievement and commitment to Jewish values and the Jewish people.” 9 The award has been nicknamed the “Jewish Nobel Prize.” 10 Spielberg announced that he would donate the $1 million prize, along with an additional $1 million, to ten organizations “fighting for racial and economic justice.” 10

Hearthland Foundation

In 2019, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw announced the formation of the Hearthland Foundation, which its website says is based on the question, “What can we do to help this country?” 11 Shortly after its creation, the Hearthland Foundation absorbed Spielberg’s existing Wunderkinder Foundation. 12

In 2022, the couple donated an additional $79 million to the foundation, which reported making $10,132,834 in grants, finishing the year with $390,824,076 in assets. 13 Its largest grant that year was $2 million to the Barack Obama Foundation. 13

In addition to supporting arts, cultural, educational, and health organizations, the Hearthland Foundation has also supported left-of-center groups such as the Hopewell Fund, the New Venture Fund (NVF), the Colorofchange.org Education Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, Human Rights Watch, 350.org, the Alliance for Justice (AFJ), the ACLU Fund of Michigan, the Center For Reproductive Rights, Data for Black Lives, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). 14 13

Political Activism and Giving

Stephen Spielberg has provided several donations to Democratic Party-aligned candidates and Democratic Party-aligned political organizations. 15

In 2010, Spielberg had reportedly declined to assist the Democratic Party in a “party rebranding exercise,” but in April 2024, the Hollywood Reporter claimed that Spielberg had been providing behind-the-scenes strategy and planning assistance for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. 16 17

He has made donations to several Democratic advocacy groups, PACs, and super PACs. These include the House Majority PAC, the Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS), the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), American Bridge 21st Century (AB PAC), Priorities USA Action, and PACRONYM. 18 19

In the second quarter of 2020, Spielberg donated a reported $250,000 to the presidential campaign of then-former Vice President Joe Biden (D). 15 In 2024, he and Capshaw were co-hosts of a Hollywood fundraiser for President Biden’s re-election campaign. 20

Spielberg’s political giving includes support for super PACs involved in state-level politics including the PAC for America’s Future, which supports Democratic legislative candidates in battleground states, EMILY’s List, and Put Michigan First, a Democratic super PAC that spent $38.92 million on the 2022 race for Michigan governor. 18 21 He has also donated to the campaigns of Democratic governors including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D). 22

In 2018, Spielberg joined other Hollywood celebrities in donating $500,000 to Everytown for Gun Safety’s “March for Our Lives” in Washington, D.C. 23

References

  1. “Steven Spielberg.” Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Steven-Spielberg.
  2. “Steven Spielberg.” Forbes. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/profile/steven-spielberg/?sh=77914175228a.
  3. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Steven Spielberg Receives Record 13th Oscar Nomination for Best Picture: Academy Newsletter.” A.frame. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/steven-spielberg-best-picture-record.
  4. Medzerian, David. “Steven Spielberg Presented Presidential Medal of Freedom.” USC Today, September 19, 2023. https://today.usc.edu/steven-spielberg-presented-with-presidential-medal-of-freedom/.
  5. Adeniji, Ade. “A Look at Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s Support for Jewish Causes and Social Justice.” Inside Philanthropy, March 24, 2021. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021-3-24-how-steven-spielberg-and-kate-capshaw-back-jewish-causes-social-justice-and-more.
  6. “About Us.” The Hearthland Foundation. Accessed October 1, 2024. https://hearthlandfoundation.org/page/about-us.
  7. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Cause IQ. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/righteous-persons-foundation,954497916/
  8. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-r/righteous-persons-foundation.
  9. “Filmmaker, Philanthropist Steven Spielberg Awarded 2021 Genesis Prize.” Philanthropy News Digest, February 12, 2021. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/filmmaker-philanthropist-steven-spielberg-awarded-2021-genesis-prize.
  10. Friedman, Gabe. “Steven Spielberg Starts Foundation to Fund Jewish-Themed Documentaries.” Times of Israel, April 17, 2021. https://www.timesofisrael.com/steven-spielberg-starts-foundation-to-fund-jewish-themed-documentaries/.
  11. “About Us.” The Hearthland Foundation. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://hearthlandfoundation.org/page/about-us.
  12.  “Heartland Foundation (a.k.a. Wunderkinder Foundation).” Inside Philanthropy, May 31, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-h/heartland-foundation.
  13. “The Hearthland Foundation, Full Filing.” ProPublica, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/954016320/202323199349106462/full.
  14. “The Hearthland Foundation, Full Filing.” ProPublica, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/954016320/202333199349106558/full.
  15. Schwartz, Brian. “Joe Biden’s Joint Committees Raise Nearly $100 Million in Second Quarter as Big-Money Donors Get off the Sidelines.” CNBC, July 16, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/16/biden-committees-raise-nearly-100-million-as-spielberg-james-murdoch-others-donate.html.
  16. Child, Ben. “Steven Spielberg Will Not Advise Democrats, Says Aide.” The Guardian, December 23, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/dec/23/steven-spielberg-democrat-party-adviser.
  17. Phillips, Zoe G. “Steven Spielberg Helping Plan Joe Biden’s Reelection Convention in Chicago.” The Hollywood Reporter, April 26, 2024. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/steven-spielberg-biden-campaign-democratic-national-convention-plan-1235882108/.
  18. “Steven Spielberg.” ProPublica 527 Explorer, n.d. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/contributions/52581582.
  19. “Steven Spielberg: Donor Detail.” OpenSecrets. Accessed September 16, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/donor_detail/2020?id=U0000000356&name=Spielberg%2C%2BSteven&super=N&type=I.
  20. Superville, Darlene. “Biden Ramps up Fundraising at Events with James Taylor and Steven Spielberg.” PBS, December 5, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-ramps-up-fundraising-at-events-with-james-taylor-and-steven-spielberg.
  21. “Put Michigan First.” ProPublica 527 Explorer. Accessed September 2, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/orgs/871484192.
  22. Bauer, Scott. “Spielberg among Big Donors to Wisconsin Governor’s Campaign.” AP News, August 15, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-entertainment-wisconsin-campaigns-1349bba8a8351c0ffad3a9ce5ba22961.
  23. Andone, Dakin. “What You Should Know about the March for Our Lives.” CNN, March 23, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/21/us/march-for-our-lives-explainer/index.html.
  See an error? Let us know!