Outlet profile

Reason Foundation

U.S. libertarian

Owned byNonprofit 501(c)(3) governed by a board of trustees; no single owner or parent company

FundingPrivate donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations; historically significant funders include Koch-affiliated foundations, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Searle Freedom Trust, the Dunn Foundation, and DonorsTrust; donor list is not publicly disclosed; annual revenue approximately $22–23 million

On the administrationmixed

Background

Reason magazine was founded in 1968 by Lanny Friedlander, a student at Boston University who began publishing a mimeographed newsletter. Robert W. Poole Jr., Manuel S. Klausner, and Tibor Machan acquired it in 1970, and in 1978 they established the Reason Foundation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to give the publication an institutional home and expand its policy research mission. Over the following decades the foundation built a policy shop alongside the magazine, publishing research on transportation privatization, school choice, criminal justice reform, and land use — all from a free-market, limited-government perspective. Koch-affiliated foundations became among its largest funders, and the Reason Foundation is widely categorized as part of the Koch-aligned network of libertarian think tanks, though it maintains editorial positions that sometimes break with mainstream conservatism. The foundation has been critical of government environmental regulations and climate policy mandates, drawing scrutiny from groups that track climate-change skepticism. It has also taken stances — on immigration openness, drug legalization, and civil liberties — that separate it from the religious and nationalist right. During Trump's first term, Reason criticized both his trade protectionism and his immigration restrictions. In his second term (2025–present), the outlet has sharply condemned his tariff regime as economically harmful, criticized DOGE for failing to deliver promised budget cuts, and urged the administration to pursue deregulation rather than economic nationalism.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-28; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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