Billionaire donates US$80 million to public radio network whose funding was cut by Trump
After an exceptionally difficult year for public media, Connie Ballmer, billionaire philanthropist and wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, donated $80 million to support the future of NPR (National Public Radio, a nonprofit media organization).
“We need fact-based journalism, and we need local journalism,” Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal. Ballmer is a regular NPR listener and said she listens to shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered while walking, driving and working.
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The donation comes at a critical time for public broadcasting, after the Trump administration pressured Congress to cut about $1.1 billion from already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes resources to public radio and television.
The contribution makes Ballmer the largest living donor in NPR history. An anonymous donor also committed $33 million to the organization to strengthen NPR’s network of more than 240 local affiliate stations, many of which have been affected by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting situation.
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said that together, the donations “provide transformative support” to the network and its stations and prepare them for the next 50 years, NPR reported.
“I support NPR because a well-informed public is the foundation of our society, and democracy demands strong, independent journalism,” Ballmer said in a statement. “I hope this commitment provides the stability and momentum NPR needs to innovate boldly and strengthen its national network.”
His commitment to journalism spans decades. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon before embarking on a career in public relations and marketing in the technology sector. He currently serves on the board of the Obama Foundation and previously served on the board of the NPR Foundation.
In 2015, Connie Ballmer and her husband, Steve, founded the Ballmer Group, a foundation dedicated to improving the economic mobility of children and families.
Steve, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, is worth an estimated $149 billion. The couple has donated at least $8 billion by 2025, a Ballmer spokesperson told the WSJ.
They also founded Rainier Climate, a non-profit organization focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with their son Sam in 2024.
Recovery after cuts
Last May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) cut all federal funding to NPR and PBS due to “biased and partisan news coverage.” In July, Congress rescinded more than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting.
“President Trump promised the American people that his administration would be a good steward of taxpayer dollars, which is why he signed an executive order last year to end subsidizing biased and left-leaning public media organizations,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to Fortune. “Americans work hard for their money, and their tax dollars should not be wasted on progressive ideological projects.”
Only about 1% of NPR’s budget came directly from CPB, but on average the public radio station lost about 10% of its annual budget. For some local stations, especially in rural areas, more than half of the budget came from CPB.
On January 5, nearly 60 years after CPB was created by Congress, the nonprofit organization was formally dissolved. In late March, a U.S. district judge ruled that Trump’s executive order was illegal and violated the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean public broadcasters will get their funding back.
While Ballmer’s donation will not replace all lost funding, it represents an important step toward strengthening NPR’s financial future. The contribution is specifically intended to help NPR’s digital transformation across different platforms to meet the needs and interests of public media audiences.
