American Oligarchy: Our latest BIG reporting project.

And a fundraising report out.   [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, I’ve been excited to write to you about our latest big reporting project, [American Oligarchy](, for well more than a year now—because that’s how long a huge team across our newsroom spent working on it. It just went up online on Monday, and it is sooooo good. I also have a quick report out on our year-end fundraising campaign for you. It was less good, and these things are related. We ended up about $45,000 short of where we needed to be. It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and as we figure out how to best make up that ground, I’m feeling incredibly grateful for the almost 5,000 of you who pitched in last month, as well as the more than 6,000 of you whose sustaining donations we count on every month. Thank you so much. Whether or not you’re ever able to contribute, with fewer people paying attention to the news of late, I’m glad you’re with us. There is no Mother Jones without you—people who care about journalism. It’s not like we can turn to a billionaire owner to balance the books. But we can turn our reporting firepower on the emerging class of billionaires who are trying to remake America to their liking. [American Oligarchy]( See the full table of contents below. [Start in on our far-reaching investigation](. It’s a hugely consequential, underreported, and timely topic, and one of our goals with it was to show that oligarchy is not a term we should reserve for Putin cronies who stash their riches in the Cayman Islands. It’s right here, in the US (and so are those secret bank accounts, now found in Sioux Falls and Delaware rather than Switzerland). Oligarch-owned platforms control the news, and increasingly [the absence]( of news, you see in your feeds—making it harder for us to scrape by, and easier for them to skate by. American oligarchy, in 2024, is built on the monopolistic growth of Big Tech. And we are its fuel: Our data, our attention, our money, and our public square build that wealth. Our banks, our law firms, our real estate companies, our legislators are all complicit. But you know what almost never shows up in our oligarch-curated feeds? News about oligarchy itself—how it operates, the toll it takes on everyone else. That makes it the perfect story for Mother Jones to go deep on, and it’s exactly what we did with our hugely ambitious project looking at [American oligarchy]( across more than a dozen articles and the entire January + February issue of [our magazine](. Just look at the table of contents pasted in below! I hope you’ll [check out the reporting package if you haven’t already seen it](, because understanding how American oligarchy works is a big part of pushing back against it. I also hope you might consider [supporting journalism]( that investigates billionaires instead of [answering to]( them. I wouldn’t ask again, so shortly after our big December push, if it didn’t matter. But the reality is that we came up short, and this project is the perfect example of why independent, people-powered journalism matters—and why the ultrawealthy will never sustain it. If you can [part with a few bucks](, or better yet, [start a monthly gift today](, we’d all be incredibly grateful. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. Onward—and down with oligarchy, [Monika Bauerlein, CEO] Monika Bauerlein, CEO Mother Jones Here’s the entire [American Oligarchy]( table of contents to give you a sense of just how expansive it is—and as you dive in, please let me know what you think about it[here](: Part One: Introduction“[The Rise of the American Oligarchy](” What targeting Russia’s wayward billionaires revealed about our own. Part Two: Hoarding“[How the US Became the World’s Refuge for Dirty Money](” Who needs the Bahamas anymore when you’ve got Sioux Falls? “[The Dark Side of the $100 Bill](” Benjamins are fueling international crime and corruption. So why are we printing more than ever? “[When Gilded Age Lawmakers Saved America From Plutocracy](” And how Biden's team is using their playbook to take on Big Tech. “[How the Rich Keep Their Riches Out of Reach](” Eight ways to hide an asset. “[Refuge for the Robber Barons](” Deranged stalkers? Bitter exes? Angry mobs? Tom Gaffney’s clients are ready. Part Three: Influencing“[Philanthropy in America Is Broken](” We taxpayers heavily subsidize ultrawealthy giving. But who really benefits? “[Billionaires’ Giving Pledge: Part Tax Strategy, Part PR Stunt](” Has it made the world a better place? You be the judge. “[A Brief History of Superyachts](” And how they explain the world. “[How ‘Woke Capitalism’ Became a Right-Wing Obsession](” Vivek Ramaswamy may no longer be running for president. But his anti-ESG legacy has already won. “[Receipts. Proof. Timelines. Screenshots: Why We Can’t Look Away From Rich People’s Drama](” The uber-wealthy are losing it over the dumbest things—and we're hooked. Part Four: Dominating“[Elon Musk’s Texas Takeover](” How the world’s richest man transformed the Lone Star State into “the modern incarnation of the company town.” “[There Is a Very Good Reason Why Donald Trump Thinks Everything Is Rigged](” In business, he was a master of gaming the system. “[Meet the Silicon Valley CEOs Who Insist That Greed Is Good](” Even if "effective accelerationism" kills us all. “[These Billionaires Want to Disrupt Death—and Keep Their Fortunes Forever](” Sci-fi meets Silicon Valley meets the trust industry. “[Welcome to America’s Wealthiest Zip Code](” Our guide to one of the nation's priciest plutocrat playgrounds. “[Monet Changes Everything](” Tainted billionaires rejoice—redemption is an auction away. [Donate](   [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. 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