John M. Olin Foundation Begins Eight-Year Operation as Secret CIA Money Laundering Bank

The John M. Olin Foundation, established in 1953 by chemical and munitions manufacturer John M. Olin, begins serving as a secret “bank” for the Central Intelligence Agency in 1958, according to Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. Between 1958 and 1966, the foundation launders $1.95 million for the CIA to fund “anti-Communist intellectuals and publications” as part of a covert propaganda operation. The eight-year money laundering arrangement allows the CIA to channel funds to anti-communist causes while concealing government involvement, using the tax-exempt foundation structure to obscure the intelligence agency’s role in funding domestic intellectual and media activities.

In 1967, press exposure of the covert propaganda operation triggers a political firestorm, forcing the CIA to fold the program and ending the Olin Foundation’s role as an intelligence community money conduit. The program revelation demonstrates how the CIA weaponized philanthropic infrastructure to conduct domestic influence operations, blurring lines between private foundations, intelligence activities, and political advocacy. Following the scandal’s exposure, the Olin Foundation remains largely inactive until 1969, when John M. Olin is disturbed by the Willard Straight Hall takeover at his alma mater Cornell University—armed Black students occupying a building sparking his commitment to using philanthropic giving to combat campus radicalism.

The foundation’s transformation from CIA money laundering operation to conservative movement powerhouse proves remarkably successful. Unlike most foundations designed for perpetual existence, Olin charges the foundation to spend all assets within a generation of his death to preserve donor intent and prevent mission drift. Before disbanding in 2005, the foundation disperses over $370 million primarily to conservative think tanks (Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Hoover Institution), media outlets, and law programs at influential universities. The foundation becomes most notable for early support and funding of the law and economics movement and the Federalist Society—the foundation’s 2003 report to trustees declares “the Federalist Society has been one of the best investments the foundation ever made.” The Olin Foundation’s eight-year run as a CIA money laundering bank establishes infrastructure and relationships enabling it to become a cornerstone of conservative funding networks, demonstrating how intelligence community connections facilitated the rise of right-wing philanthropic power.