Vaccines · Follow the money
Follow the Money: Who Pays for the Anti-Vaccine Movement
The anti-vaccine movement likes to call itself a grassroots uprising of worried parents. The tax filings tell a different story: a few very rich donors, millions of dollars routed through anonymous charitable funds, supplement sellers and lawyers who profit from the fear, and, since 2025, politicians and officials in power. Here is what the public record shows, with dollar amounts wherever they are known.
On this page
$118Mtaken in by four anti-vaccine and COVID-misinformation groups, 2020–2022
¾of ICAN’s funding from one Manhattan couple’s foundation
$4Min book advances paid to RFK Jr. while serving as Health Secretary
44%of MAHA PAC’s early money from one kratom-drink maker
1. The big U.S. groups and what they take in
COVID-19 was a windfall. In a February 2024 analysis of tax records, the Washington Post found that four nonprofits spreading vaccine and COVID misinformation took in more than $118 million from 2020 to 2022. The two biggest anti-vaccine groups:
| Group | Leader | Revenue | Where some of it went |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s Health Defense (CHD) | Founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; now run by Mary Holland | 2020: $6.8M 2021: $16M 2022: $23.5M 2023: $16M (a loss of about $3M) | Salaries $5.6M (2022) rising to $9.8M (2023). Kennedy $510,000 in 2022. Holland $180,000 in 2023. Falconry, $138,000 in 2023. |
| Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) | Led by Del Bigtree and Lisa Selz | 2019: about $3.5M 2022: about $13.4M 2023: $23M | $6M in 2023 to the law firm Siri & Glimstad, which brings its lawsuits. Bigtree: $234,000 salary in 2023, plus $350,000 in consulting fees over two years through his company. |
Figures are from the groups’ IRS Form 990 filings as reported by NBC News and the Washington Post. For a page-by-page reading of CHD’s own 2022–2024 returns, including $10 million in legal fees, see CHD’s Finances: What the 990s Show.
2. The named donors
Most donors to these groups are never named. These are the ones who have been identified, through foundation tax returns, property records or reporting:
| Donor | Who they are | What they gave | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard and Lisa Selz (Selz Foundation) | Manhattan hedge-fund manager and his wife | More than $3 million to the movement. About three-quarters of ICAN’s funding. About $1.6M to two nonprofits, one of which paid for the film Vaxxed. $500,000 to CHD in 2023. | Washington Post, June 2019; The Times |
| Joseph Mercola | Osteopath who sells supplements and “natural” products online | More than $2.9 million to the National Vaccine Information Center over about ten years; about $4 million in all to anti-vaccine groups | Washington Post, Dec 2019, via Axios |
| Timothy Mellon | Banking heir; Trump megadonor | $25 million to Kennedy’s 2024 super PAC. A Connecticut estate appraised at $5.5 million, given to CHD in August 2025, with five years of upkeep and insurance | New York Times, 2 June 2026 |
| William H. Donner Foundation | Family foundation | $300,000 to CHD, 2022–2024, including two $100,000 gifts earmarked for lawsuits | NBC News; Vaxopedia |
| JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation | Family foundation of John Paul DeJoria (Paul Mitchell, Patrón) | About $375,000 to CHD, 2020–2023 | Vaxopedia |
Notice the Mercola line. A man who sells “alternatives” to frightened parents is one of the biggest funders of the group that frightens them.
3. The hidden money
Much of the money arrives through donor-advised funds: charitable accounts run by brokerages and community foundations. A donor puts money in, takes the tax deduction, and tells the fund where to send it. The receiving group’s tax return shows only the fund’s name, never the donor’s. Grants to CHD found in fund filings include:
| Donor-advised fund | Granted to CHD (about) |
|---|---|
| Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund | $3.5 million |
| Vanguard Charitable | $2.4 million (more than $500,000 of it in 2023) |
| National Philanthropic Trust | $1.8 million |
| Donor Advised Charitable Giving | $1.3 million |
| National Christian Charitable Foundation | $872,000 |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust | $763,000 |
| American Endowment Foundation | $718,000 |
| Chicago Community Trust | $407,000 |
| T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving | $405,000 |
Totals as compiled by Vincent Iannelli, MD, at Vaxopedia (23 Sept 2026), across several years of filings. The funds themselves are not anti-vaccine; they pass on whatever their account-holders ask. The point is that the real donors stay anonymous.
4. U.S. politicians and government officials
Since January 2025 the movement has had people in power. Their financial ties are public through ethics filings, court records and campaign-finance reports.
| Person | Position | The money |
|---|---|---|
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services since February 2025 |
|
| Kennedy’s 2024 super PAC (American Values 2024) | Supported his presidential campaign | Reportedly raised about $50 million; run by donors and current and former CHD staff. Timothy Mellon gave $25 million. |
| MAHA PAC | “Political arm” of Make America Healthy Again; president Tony Lyons | Announced a $100 million fundraising drive for 2026 candidates. Pledged $1 million to Rep. Julia Letlow’s challenge to Sen. Bill Cassidy, the physician-senator who had questioned Kennedy on vaccines, and spent about $1.09 million against Cassidy. Cassidy lost the Louisiana Republican primary on 16 May 2026. The PAC’s biggest donor: Botanic Tonics, maker of the kratom drink “Feel Free,” $1 million, about 44% of what the PAC raised from January 2025 to April 2026. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has disclosed a stake of up to $1 million in the same company. |
| Martin Kulldorff | Named by Kennedy to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee (ACIP), June 2025 | Paid expert witness for plaintiffs suing Merck over Gardasil, at $400 an hour; testified he had billed about $33,000, plus a $4,000 retainer. A federal judge ruled for Merck in that case. |
| Robert Malone | Named to ACIP, June 2025 | Paid witness against Merck in a lawsuit claiming the mumps vaccine is ineffective, at $350 an hour. His Substack newsletter reportedly brought in about $31,200 a month at one point during the pandemic. |
| David Geier | Hired by HHS in 2025 to examine vaccine and autism data | Pay not disclosed. Kennedy promised the Senate Finance Committee his contract in April 2026; as of late May it had not been produced. In 2011 the Maryland medical board fined him $10,000 for practising medicine without a licence; his father Mark Geier lost his licence over giving Lupron to autistic children. |
For the policy side of these appointments, see RFK Jr.’s vaccine record and Rewriting the Schedule.
5. Canada 🍁: politicians, governments and donors
Canadian anti-vaccine money is harder to trace. Most groups are ordinary non-profits, not registered charities, and publish no financial statements at all. What is on the record:
| Who | What happened | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Danielle Smith, now Premier of Alberta | As a leadership candidate in 2022, raised money on GoFundMe for a vaccine lawsuit that was never filed. She said she gave about C$60,000 of it to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. | C$100,000 raised |
| Government of Alberta | Paid for the COVID Pandemic Data Review Task Force chaired by Dr. Gary Davidson, whose January 2025 report urged a halt to COVID-19 vaccines. Separately paid for Preston Manning’s pandemic review panel; Manning was paid C$253,000 for rewriting its report. See Canada’s Own Rewrite: Alberta. | About C$2 million each |
| Government of British Columbia | Community gaming grants to the Health Action Network Society, which screened Vaxxed and shared CHD material. The grants were about 40% of its revenue. Cut off for 2019–20 after CBC reporting. | C$428,500, 2007–2019 |
| Vaccine Choice Canada | Admitted in 2019 that it paid the expenses of American anti-vaccine activists, including Dr. Bob Sears, to testify against New Brunswick’s bill ending non-medical exemptions. Bought space on 50 Toronto-area billboards the same year. | Not disclosed |
| “Freedom Convoy” donors (GiveSendGo, 2022) | Hacked donor data: of 92,844 donations, 55.7% came from the United States and 39% from Canada. Canadians gave more money in total. | US$4.3M from Canada; US$3.6M from the U.S. |
| Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms | A registered charity, so donors receive tax receipts. It argued many of the mandate cases. Identified funders include the Hearn Family Foundation (over C$200,000 since 2015) and Peter Munk’s Aurea Foundation (at least C$275,000). The JCCF describes itself as a civil-liberties group, not an anti-vaccine one, and its donors may have been giving for other causes. | C$2.6M revenue in 2020, about 79% from receipted donations |
| Canadian Covid Care Alliance and its telehealth network | Paid prescriptions for ivermectin and other unproven COVID treatments. See Ira Bernstein and the CCCA. | Paid by patients |
6. How the money is made
Where it comes from
- A few rich ideological donors: the Selzes, Mellon.
- Sellers of “alternatives”: Mercola’s supplements; Botanic Tonics’ kratom drinks.
- Anonymous donor-advised funds at Fidelity, Vanguard and others.
- Small donors and crowdfunding, often across the border.
- Taxpayers, when governments fund the groups or their reviews.
Where it goes
- Salaries for the leaders.
- Lawyers: $6M a year from ICAN to one firm; contingency fees from vaccine lawsuits.
- Books and newsletters: Skyhorse advances; paid Substacks.
- Films, billboards and conferences, including paid “boot camps” filmed by CBC Marketplace (see Watch & Listen).
- Politics: super PACs and primary challenges.
7. Why some media outlets join in
Most news organizations, of every political leaning, report vaccine science accurately. But a number of outlets and personalities have made vaccine doubt a regular part of their programming. The reasons are mostly about audience, not ad money.
| Reason | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| The audience wants it | During COVID, vaccination became a marker of political identity, and outlets serve their audience’s identity. A study published on VoxEU found that from May 2021, each additional hour a week of Fox News viewing was associated with 0.35 to 0.76 fewer vaccinations per 100 people. CNN and MSNBC showed no measurable effect. |
| Loyalty, not clicks | A 2023 Princeton study in Scientific Reports, covering more than 400,000 links, found that websites shared by anti-vaccine pages did not make more money from ads than those shared by pro-vaccine pages. The money is in loyalty: subscriptions, donations and crowdfunding from people who feel they are being told what others won’t tell them. |
| Big personalities, big contracts | Spotify’s deal with Joe Rogan was reported at about $200 million. When hundreds of doctors and scientists asked Spotify in January 2022 to act on COVID misinformation on his show, Neil Young pulled his music from the platform. Rogan stayed. |
| Questionable funding | The Epoch Times has carried vaccine-skeptical content for years. Its former chief financial officer, Bill Guan, pleaded guilty in July 2026 in a $67 million money-laundering case. Prosecutors said the paper’s revenue rose about 410%, from roughly $15 million to $62 million, while the scheme ran. The paper says the case had nothing to do with its journalism. |
| Canada 🍁: Rebel News | Launched in 2015 with about C$100,000 in crowdfunding and still built on viewer donations. In 2021 the Prime Minister accused it of spreading vaccine misinformation, and the Commissioner of Canada Elections fined it $3,000 for unregistered third-party advertising. In September 2024 the Federal Court upheld the CRA’s refusal of journalism tax credits: of 423 pieces the CRA reviewed, it judged only 10 to be original journalism. |
| Officials make it “news” | When a U.S. Health Secretary repeats a false claim, mainstream outlets have to report it. Even a story that corrects the claim repeats it to millions. |
The outlets’ defenders say they give a voice to people who lost trust in authorities after real mistakes during the pandemic, and that criticizing lockdowns or mandates is legitimate debate. On policy, that is fair. It does not extend to false claims about what vaccines do.
8. What the public can do
- Don’t feed the algorithm. Sharing an anti-vaccine post, even to mock it, spreads it. If you answer, answer once, calmly, with a link to a good source. Better still, warn people before a claim reaches them; “prebunking” works better than chasing a claim afterward.
- Follow your own money. If you give through a donor-advised fund at a brokerage or community foundation, ask what standards it applies to the groups it pays; such funds have sent CHD millions. Before you give to a Canadian charity, read its T3010 return.
- Talk to advertisers. Outlets that push vaccine misinformation depend on sponsors. Rebel News was reported to have lost about 300 advertisers in three months in 2017 after a consumer campaign.
- Ask how public money is vetted. B.C. stopped funding the Health Action Network Society after CBC reported on it. Ask your MP, MPP or MLA how grants and charitable status are checked, and what reviews like Alberta’s cost.
- Use the complaint routes. Regulatory colleges for licensed practitioners; the Competition Bureau and Health Canada for products; Elections Canada for unregistered political advertising. See our how to complain page and complaining about practitioners.
- Back the other side. Give your money, time and shares to groups such as ScienceUpFirst and Immunize Canada, and to your local public health unit. Send a hesitant friend something good to watch from our Watch & Listen page, and talk with them patiently, not with ridicule.
From the home office in Waterloo, Ontario
Top Ten Signs Your “Vaccine Expert” Is Really an Anti-Vaxxer
- Their medical training is a weekend seminar in Sedona.
- They warn you about “toxins” right before selling you a $90 detox kit.
- “Do your own research” always means watching their video.
- Their CV lists “paid expert witness” and nothing else.
- They say measles is “mild,” but they’ve never seen a child with it.
- They’re “just asking questions,” and the questions were answered in 1998.
- Their “study” is a Facebook poll.
- Their idea of natural immunity is getting the disease.
- They complain about Big Pharma money from a 300-acre estate someone gave them.
- They just got a $2 million book advance for warning you about people who profit from vaccines.
Satire, with apologies to David Letterman. The facts behind numbers 1, 2, 7 and 9 are in the donor and officials tables above.
9. Look it up yourself
- U.S. nonprofits: every Form 990, with revenue, top salaries and grants made, on ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer. Search “Children’s Health Defense” or “Informed Consent Action Network.”
- U.S. PACs and super PACs: donors and spending at the Federal Election Commission.
- U.S. officials: financial disclosures of senior officials through the Office of Government Ethics.
- Canadian charities: each registered charity’s annual T3010 return, with revenue, gifts and pay ranges, is free on the CRA list of charities.
- Canadian politics: donations to federal parties and candidates at Elections Canada; provincial donations through each province’s elections office.
Know of money we’ve missed?
If you have documents showing who funds a Canadian anti-vaccine group, write to drpolevoy@yahoo.com. We publish only what can be documented.
And the Grifty goes to…
Meet the real nominees
The cartoon’s characters are types. These are the documented facts about real people that fit each category. No quotes, no jokes, just the record.
| Name | The documented fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph Mercola | Gave more than $2.9 million to the National Vaccine Information Center over about ten years while selling supplements online | Washington Post, 2019 |
| Bernard and Lisa Selz | Their foundation supplies about three-quarters of ICAN’s funding | Washington Post, 2019 |
| Andrew Wakefield | Struck off the UK medical register in 2010; directed the film Vaxxed in 2016 | General Medical Council, 2010 |
| Robert Malone | Paid $350 an hour as a witness in a lawsuit against Merck; his Substack reportedly brought in about $31,200 a month at one point | Sen. Elizabeth Warren, letter of 24 June 2025 |
| Martin Kulldorff | Paid $400 an hour as an expert witness for plaintiffs suing Merck over Gardasil | Reuters, June 2025 |
| Del Bigtree | $234,000 salary from ICAN in 2023, plus $350,000 in consulting fees over two years | NBC News, 2024 |
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | $4 million in book advances reported while serving as U.S. Health Secretary | NPR, 24 Sept 2026 |
Being paid as an expert witness, drawing a salary or writing books is legal. The point is who profits from vaccine fear, and by how much.
Sources
- Washington Post, tax-records analysis of COVID-misinformation nonprofits, February 2024 (as summarized by Civicas, 21 Feb 2024).
- NBC News, “RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year,” November 2024; NBC News, “Anti-vaccine group ICAN nearly doubled revenue,” December 2024.
- Lena H. Sun and Amy Brittain, “Meet the New York couple donating millions to the anti-vax movement,” Washington Post, 19 June 2019.
- Washington Post on Joseph Mercola’s donations, December 2019, as reported by Axios, 21 Dec 2019.
- Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Theodore Schleifer, “Trump megadonor gave $5.5 million estate to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nonprofit,” New York Times, 2 June 2026 (republished by GV Wire).
- Vincent Iannelli, MD, “Who is funding Children’s Health Defense?” Vaxopedia, 23 Sept 2026.
- NPR, “RFK Jr.’s ethics filing reveals book deals worth millions of dollars,” 24 Sept 2026; Axios, “RFK Jr. earned millions from law work, book deals,” 22 Jan 2025.
- Daily Signal, on MAHA PAC’s $100 million plan, March 2026; Legis1, “MAHA PAC spends $1 million against Cassidy,” 25 Sept 2026; NPR/KPBS, “Louisiana senator… loses Republican primary,” 16 May 2026.
- Kenneth P. Vogel and Christina Jewett, New York Times, 15 June 2026, on Botanic Tonics, MAHA PAC and Markwayne Mullin (republished by GV Wire, 17 June 2026).
- Reuters, “Kennedy’s new vaccine adviser was expert witness against Merck vaccine,” June 2025; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, letter to Secretary Kennedy on ACIP conflicts of interest, 24 June 2025.
- Anna Merlan, Mother Jones, 21 May 2026, on David Geier at HHS.
- CTV News Edmonton, “Danielle Smith raised $100K in donations for a vaccine lawsuit that hasn’t happened,” 28 Sept 2022.
- David J. Climenhaga, rabble.ca, January 2025, on the cost of Alberta’s task force and the Manning panel.
- CBC News, “B.C. government granted $428K to group that spreads anti-vaccine claims,” 2019; CBC News, “B.C. pulls funding for health charity that spread anti-vaccine claims,” 2020.
- Wikipedia, “Vaccine Choice Canada,” and its citations on the 2019 New Brunswick hearings and Toronto billboards.
- CBC News, analysis of leaked GiveSendGo convoy donation data, February 2022.
- PressProgress, “These rich and powerful elites have quietly funded a right-wing charity…,” 19 July 2021.
- “The impact of Fox News on the US COVID-19 vaccination campaign,” VoxEU/CEPR column.
- Princeton Empirical Studies of Conflict, “Measuring the monetization strategies of websites with application to pro- and anti-vaccine communities,” Scientific Reports, 2023.
- Mixmag, “Joe Rogan was reportedly paid over $200 million in Spotify deal,” 23 Feb 2022 (on New York Times reporting).
- Associated Press, “Ex-Epoch Times CFO pleads guilty in $67M multinational money laundering scheme,” July 2026 (via WTOP).
- General Medical Council, Fitness to Practise Panel determination on Dr Andrew Wakefield, 24 May 2010.
- Wikipedia, “Rebel News,” and its citations (Federal Court ruling, 19 Sept 2024; Commissioner of Canada Elections, 2021).
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