The Massive Network Bankrolling The Anti-Vaping Movement

Did you know that the anti-vaping movement is funded by three wealthy foundations - two headed by mult-billionaires and the other with a major stake in a smoking cessation product?

A new report from the American Vapor Manufacturers uncovers the ulterior funding that drives the war on vaping. Huge in scale, we uncovered hundreds of millions bankrolling academia, NGOs, lobbyists, PR, lawyers, front groups, and even journalists, all doing the bidding of pompous, unaccountable billionaires.

Our report is just a snapshot of the vast amount of money flowing among the wealthy foundations and deep-pocketed public health organizations that are driving misinformation about vaping in the U.S. and around the world. It’s a complex web, but it’s worth untangling.

We looked at the available financial records (990s, Financial Audits, and Grants Databases) from 2017 to present for the major foundations driving the anti-vaping narrative. The data and sources are available here. 

Bloomberg Philanthropies

Let’s first take a look at the heaviest hitter, with at least $170 MILLION (that’s been publicly disclosed) spent on tobacco control groups, research, and programs since 2017 - Bloomberg Philanthropies:

Notice the symbiosis between Bloomberg, Vital Strategies, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) that involves funding researchers at major universities that produce anti-vaping studies, public health organizations and international development NGOs. You can read INNCO’s fantastic report here about how Bloomberg and CTFK are driving public health policy on a global scale with misinformation. 

In fact, CTFK appears to be at the center of it all, as almost every major foundation and organization seemingly goes through CTFK to promote its anti-vaping agenda. Even Truth Initiative has given over $2.7 million in a “Strategic Alliance” grant.

Let’s not forget that Truth received funds from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which it has invested over the years to amass its $100+ million budget. Here’s an excellent article from Marc Gunther exposing Truth’s many ethical problems.

Truth also supports Parents Against Vaping e-Cigarettes, American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, and anti-vaping research at UCSF and Brown. 

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

A somewhat lesser known, but major benefactor of the anti-vaping movement is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with at least $79 million spent in the last 5 years that’s been publicly disclosed. 

In fact, The Gates Foundation and Bloomberg have an explicit partnership and report that collaboration on their 990 forms. Gates gives Bloomberg $7+ million a year and they both fund programs at the World Health Organization, Vital Strategies and SE Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Lastly, there’s the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which has donated at least $33.5 million to anti-vaping causes since 2017. In 1995, RWJF founded the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, which rebranded to Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids the next year.

RWJF continues to be a major funder of CTFK for years and gave it a huge boost to the tune of $12 MILLION in 2012 to “rebuild” and “sustain” its work: 

RWJF also funds the Public Health Law Center so it can provide “legal assistance” to organizations in the anti-vaping movement in developing policies to regulate and ban vaping across the country. 

The Public Health Law Center puts out a “Policy Playbook,” which “illustrate[s] the ways in which communities can overcome obstacles and secure public support for their policies and the tactics they use in enforcing them.” 

RWJF also funds Johns Hopkins to identify “priority areas for e-cigarette research to ensure that regulations and public policies advance health equity.” 

What’s most nefarious about RWJF funding anti-vaping efforts is its close affiliation with Johnson & Johnson, the company that makes Nicorette and other smoking cessation products. RWJF’s endowment is also heavily invested in J&J. 

As one paper on conflicts of interest in philanthropy put it: 

“As another instance, which may reflect aligning interests, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has played a leading role in promoting anti-tobacco products and maintains Smoking Cessation Leadership Centers and programs, although its endowment is mainly invested in Johnson & Johnson, a leading manufacturer of cessation products, and some board members have been represented on both the Foundation's and the company's boards.”

So again we have three major foundations, two of which are led by multi-billionaires and one with a major conflict of interest, funding an entire movement promoting misinformation and fear about vaping. And this just scratches the surface of the extent of the money flowing around. 

That’s why we will continue to expose hidden agendas and conflicts of interest in our fight to save vaping.