WyoFile partnered with Jackson Hole News&Guide and KHOL 89.1 FM to report this story.
At the entrance to the Old Bill’s award party last month — Jackson Hole’s signature charity celebration — people rushing into a music- and balloon-filled arts center stopped to talk about B. Wayne Jr. and Molly Hughes. A few newcomers to town said they’d never heard of them, but most people on their way to pick up checks raved about the billionaire couple.
One woman told a reporter how much money they’ve given to youth services. Another fondly recalled them as the family who made a Jackson farmstand affordable.
“Are there people who haven’t heard of them?” one attendee said in passing.
Yet, outside Teton County, Wyomingites may not know much about the transplants who moved to Jackson Hole eight years ago from California. That appears fine with the couple, who tend to avoid the spotlight. The Hugheses, who have stated a desire to let their work speak for itself, declined to be interviewed for this story.
Regardless of whether Wyomingites immediately recognize the Hugheses’ name, they are nevertheless likely to feel their increasing influence on the state’s civic life. If an Equality State resident receives services from a food bank, has a loved one getting charitable treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, tunes into Wyoming PBS or reads the digital news outlet Cowboy State Daily, there’s a good chance they’re touched by the couple’s largesse.
Hughes Jr. has owned Cowboy State Daily, which describes itself as the state’s most read news organization, since 2022. The Hughes Charitable Foundation has distributed or pledged about $75 million to a wide variety of Wyoming nonprofits since entering the state in 2017.
In the political arena, Hughes Jr. has donated more than $637,000 to Wyoming statehouse candidates and political action committees — a substantive sum for Wyoming, where legislative campaigns are increasingly expensive, but remain low-budget affairs compared to other states.
To be sure, there are other wealthy Equality State families known for their giving with names such as Friess, Kemmerer, Ellbogen, Storer and McMurry. But the details of the Hugheses’ charitable and political contributions, coupled with Hughes Jr.’s ownership of one of the state’s most visible media ventures, outline a remarkable impact on Wyoming from a single family.
Worth approximately $2 billion by press time Tuesday, according to Forbes, Hughes Jr. and his wife have donated to organizations that help children and the elderly, combat poverty and domestic violence, counter addiction and ease Jackson Hole’s affordable housing crisis. Their checks can change the trajectory of cash-strapped Wyoming nonprofits, people in that world say.
The Hugheses’ investments in Wyoming come at a time when elected officials in both Cheyenne and Washington, D.C., are paring back government services and shrinking tax revenues that fund public schools, public health programs and public amenities. In Wyoming, where charitable dollars are often hard to find outside of Jackson Hole, philanthropists like the Hugheses are increasingly essential to the state’s social safety net.
Hughes Jr. has also financially supported President Donald Trump — to the tune of at least $2 million for his two inaugurations, according to federal campaign finance filings — and congressional Republicans in Washington, who have cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations while downsizing public services.
It’s unclear which parts of the president’s agenda Hughes Jr. specifically supports. But it is clear he believes the wealthy should do more through philanthropy to raise up the places where they live.
In a 2021 op-ed in Cowboy State Daily, the publication he would later buy, Hughes Jr. called on other wealthy people moving to Jackson Hole to treat Teton County as more than just a picturesque tax shelter.
“Teton County is not for everyone,” he wrote, “but for those of us who call it home it’s time to start caring, time to start speaking out, and it’s time to start giving. Many of us have seen the problem and it is us.”
Hughes Jr. did not shy away from acknowledging his own good fortune.
“And to those that say ‘the problem cannot be solved so why try?’ — they need to look into their hearts and realize that ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I,’” he wrote.
Quiet benefactors
B. Wayne Hughes Jr., who is in his mid-60s, shares the name of his father, Bradley Wayne Hughes, who died in August 2021. The senior Hughes was a self-made man, the son of a sharecropper who moved from Oklahoma to Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley during the Dust Bowl, according to news reports and obituaries at the time of his death.
Hughes Sr. worked in several industries but made his fortune after founding Public Storage in the 1970s. The self-storage company — recognizable by its bright orange logo — was revolutionary, and Hughes Sr. “built a fortune storing Americans’ excess stuff,” as Forbes put it.
To the extent that Hughes Jr. avoids the limelight connected to his philanthropy, it’s a habit he may have learned from the family’s patriarch. In 2019, the Los Angeles Times identified Hughes Sr. as the anonymous donor behind nearly $400 million in giving to his alma mater, the University of Southern California. Most people who donate to universities at that scale have buildings named after them. Not Hughes Sr.
Editor’s note:
While reporting this story, reporters first reached out to Molly Hughes, who declined several times to be interviewed. After reporters sent a written interview request to the couple, they received a response in the form of a cautioning letter from former Wyoming governor and attorney Mike Sullivan.
The former Democratic governor referenced the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and said the Hugheses had concerns that too much attention on their personal lives could expose them to risk.
“The confluence of events and timing of your profile places a particular burden on you as responsible journalists not to put any members of the Hughes family at risk of danger or harm by reason of their political beliefs, which are admittedly conservative, or by their generosity of spirit,” Sullivan wrote. The Hugheses asked WyoFile, KHOL and the News&Guide to refrain from sharing certain personal details, which the reporters had already planned to avoid.
Hughes Jr. also declined an interview, saying an interview with a Hughes Charitable Foundation board member should suffice.
“From my perspective you’ve got enough information. I’m going to pass,” he wrote in an email.
In a 2014 Forbes article, Hughes Jr. told a reporter he became more serious about philanthropy in the late 2000s and early 2010s after finding his Christian faith in his late 30s and becoming jaded after a stint of seeking change through Washington politics.
An avid cowboy and outdoorsman, he at the time hosted struggling veterans at his California ranch, helping them confront their problems in a luxurious outdoor setting. He joined liberal billionaires like George Soros in backing, both through significant donations and personal advocacy in Sacramento, a successful 2014 state ballot measure to reduce prison sentences for minor crimes and drug offenses, Proposition 47.
In 2024, California voters reversed that law amid growing crime and public safety concerns. Hughes Jr. donated $1.27 million to back the ballot measure in 2014, but does not appear to have financially supported the more recent campaign to defend the measure, per California Secretary of State campaign finance records.
The Hugheses also have a home in Hawaii, where Hughes Jr. started a media organization, Aloha State Daily, inspired by Cowboy State Daily. He is reportedly a skilled and passionate surfer.
Hughes Jr. has described his philanthropic giving as focused on people in the “impact zone.” In surfing, that’s a dreaded place to be — trapped where the waves are breaking, unable to reach safety farther out to sea, or to make it back to shore. In the impact zone, wave after wave breaks overhead as a surfer battles for survival. It’s disorienting and dangerous. Hughes Jr. compares that battle with the ocean to the struggles of people trapped in a cycle of addiction and poverty.
“Our philanthropy is focused on supporting the poor, hungry, oppressed, imprisoned, housing insecure, veterans, women and children, and Indigenous communities,” the Hughes Charitable Foundation website states.
Molly Hughes, a professional fundraiser for over 30 years, has spoken less publicly. She is also known to be deeply guided by her religious faith. People who have worked with her describe her as the brains behind the foundation’s operations, thoughtful and dedicated. Sources said that Molly, the foundation’s executive director since 2018, avoids the limelight but is committed to the belief that the nation’s donor class should give away more to those in need.
Indeed, even in a place as thick with billionaires as Teton County, the Hugheses’ giving stands out.
Unique and diverse giving strategy
In 2021, far from the Tetons and Jackson Hole’s luxury homes, Ryan Anderson found himself staring at double-digit inflation and a budget that didn’t balance. The leader of Gillette’s Youth Emergency Services House needed about $1 million — roughly 18% of his budget at the time — to retain staff specially trained to provide court-ordered residential care to youth.
Because the YES House offers, in part, court-mandated care, Anderson’s budget comes largely from federal and state agencies and grants. Not only were reimbursement rates flagging, he said, but many government grants are restricted in ways that make it difficult to pay for basic organizational needs.
In stepped the Hughes Charitable Foundation.
After just a few months of discussion, Anderson secured a $1 million grant from the foundation to give staff a pay raise with retention incentives. His employees could continue their work providing housing, outpatient treatment and therapeutic services to Campbell County’s most vulnerable young people.
“It was incredibly valuable to us in a time when we really needed it,” Anderson said.
Beginning in 2017, when the Hughes Charitable Foundation entered Wyoming, it has distributed or pledged an estimated $75 million to more than 300 Wyoming nonprofits, according to public filings and interviews. The foundation did not respond to requests for an exact number.
Its annual giving has grown rapidly in recent years. From 2017 to 2021, the foundation donated about $4 million in total, according to public records. In contrast, in the past four years, it has donated about $12 million a year.
(While never a direct recipient of a Hughes Charitable Foundation grant, WyoFile has benefited financially from the foundation’s support of WyoGives Day, a program of the Wyoming Nonprofit Network. Specifically, WyoFile has received a little over $66,000 in WyoGives matching and incentive-pool funds since 2021. Like all Teton County nonprofits, KHOL does not qualify for the match and has not received a foundation grant.)
There are a handful of foundations that operate around the state, and very few of them are generalists and give statewide likes the Hugheses’ foundation does, said Samin Dadelahi, president and CEO of the Wyoming Community Foundation. A veteran of the state’s philanthropy scene, Dadelahi considers her organization and two others, the John P. Ellbogen Foundation and Newell B. Sargent Foundation, the only grant-making nonprofits with as broad and deep a reach in Wyoming as the Hughes Charitable Foundation. That’s because many of Wyoming’s other prominent family foundations either restrict the use of their donations more tightly — focusing on specific geographic regions or causes — or give broadly outside the state. The Hughes Charitable Foundation does give elsewhere, but is focused on Wyoming.
“They have a really traditional lens when it comes to charity, in that they are focusing on those bottom-line safety net services.”
Samin Dadelahi, president and CEO of the Wyoming Community Foundation
Direct comparisons between private foundations can be challenging to make, but Dadelahi estimated that the foundation’s giving since 2021 has amounted to 10% of all institutional philanthropy statewide each year.
“In some ways, they have a really traditional lens when it comes to charity, in that they are focusing on those bottom-line safety net services like food, like housing, youth homes, mental health and wellness,” Dadelahi said.
The Hughes Charitable Foundation’s board is staffed by Wyoming luminaries, including Marilyn Kite, a retired Wyoming Supreme Court justice, the first female on the state’s high-court bench and first to serve as chief justice. Rather than trying to shape Wyoming according to its vision, the foundation is “focused on where the human needs are, and so that’s why it looks so broad,” Kite said.
By dollar figure, the foundation’s top areas of giving are affordable housing, Indigenous affairs and youth services.
In Teton County alone, the foundation has donated or pledged more than $25 million to housing, which town and county leaders cite as the most critical need in one of the nation’s tightest housing markets. Bolstering first lady of Wyoming Jennie Gordon’s hunger initiative, the Hugheses have helped support the state’s food insecurity efforts.
“The [hunger] needs are so significant in virtually every county in this state,” Kite said.
The Hughes Charitable Foundation — and Wyoming’s philanthropic sector in general — still doesn’t match the state government’s spending and reach on public services, nonprofit experts note. But the foundation stands out through giving that carries a certain “democratic” flair, said Gabel Taggart, an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming who studies nonprofits and giving motivations and serves on the board of the Wyoming Nonprofit Network.
In 2021, the Hugheses’ foundation gave $1 million to the Wyoming Nonprofit Network to establish an innovative match program for established nonprofits as part of the WyoGives fundraising drive, which already existed. Each year since, WyoGives has distributed $1 million from the foundation as part of that match program.
The Hugheses’ WyoGives incentive excludes nonprofits in Teton County’s already robust philanthropic scene. This was intended to target areas that Wyoming Nonprofit Network Director Jody Shields calls “philanthropy deserts.” If a county’s poverty rate is relatively high, the foundation offers nonprofits there a larger match.
A new media mogul
A wealthy, religious and politically conservative Jacksonite donated the money to start Cowboy State Daily, an online-only Wyoming media outlet, but his last name wasn’t Hughes.
Coming off his unsuccessful 2018 run for governor, the financier and conservative megadonor Foster Friess provided seed money for the fledgling nonprofit newsroom, according to past reporting and the news organization’s founding members.
The new organization was helmed by two people: media veteran Jimmy Orr, who served as an internet strategist for President George W. Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and as a digital editor at the Los Angeles Times; and Anneliese Wiederspahn, the daughter of U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis.
Bill Sniffin, a longtime Wyoming journalist and publisher from Lander who had worked for Friess on his gubernatorial campaign, joined Cowboy State in January 2020.
By then, Sniffin told a reporter for this story, Friess’ startup money had dwindled, and the financier had indicated he would not provide more.
Cowboy State Daily occasionally found other donors, Sniffin recalled, and another lifeline came through a $150,000 grant in federal COVID-19 funds administered by the Wyoming Business Council.
By the end of 2021, Cowboy State Daily “was hanging on for dear life,” Orr said in an October interview. The outlet “didn’t have much time left at all,” he said.
Two years later, Cowboy State Daily was rapidly acquiring the broadest reach of any news organization in Wyoming, according to Orr. Its roster of staff reporters was growing, and it had become prolific in the Wyoming digital news landscape and even the state’s physical landscape. New billboards along Interstate 80 pitched Cowboy State Daily as a media outlet for those who “drink upstream from the herd.”
Cowboy State Daily was no longer in financial trouble. It was also no longer a nonprofit.
The difference was Hughes Jr.
In 2021, the Hughes Charitable Foundation donated $50,000 to Cowboy State Daily, according to tax records compiled for WyoFile by the Sunlight Research Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. Sniffin had reached out to Hughes Jr. while “desperate for donations,” he said.
The donation was listed in the foundation’s tax filing as “contingent on the completion of two strategy discussions” with the outlet’s senior staff.
Orr, the editor, and Hughes Jr., the billionaire, connected over the media outlet’s newsletter, which Hughes Jr. subscribed to and enjoyed, Orr said. And Orr, whose career in national media largely focused on developing the digital side of publications like the Los Angeles Times, said Hughes Jr. was impressed by his grasp of metrics and readers’ online behavior.
In February 2022, Cowboy State Daily announced its new proprietor.
“A Wyoming businessman and philanthropist has purchased the assets of Cowboy State Daily,” read the subtitle of a Feb. 11, 2022 article written by Orr.
The story did not share the details of the outlet’s transition, in which the nonprofit was disbanded and a new LLC was formed with Hughes Jr. as owner. Nor did it note Hughes Jr.’s reputation as a “conservative mega-donor,” as the Los Angeles Times described him in 2016.
Hughes Jr.’s motivation in buying the outlet, as opposed to funding it as a nonprofit, isn’t clear. Orr framed the switch from nonprofit to business as the billionaire philanthropist’s decision.
“He’s a very successful businessman, and so he structured it the way that he did,” Orr said.
The newsletter today has more than 100,000 subscribers, according to Orr, and is paired with an online video broadcast and radio show that is syndicated by some stations around the state.
“Wayne Hughes invested in people, invested in resources,” Orr said.
Nationally, it’s not unusual for wealthy individuals to purchase media organizations, which are often in financial distress and relatively cheap acquisitions. Buyers’ motivations vary, said David Coppini, an associate professor in the University of Denver’s journalism program.
“It could be a prestige thing, it could be something that adds to their political clout if they have political aspirations. They could have other financial interests it’s connected to,” Coppini said, and “there could also be the possibility that the person is really interested in journalism.”
A wealthy person’s ownership raises the question of whether they seek to control the news, Coppini said, a charge Hughes Jr. has faced, particularly from far-right figures in Wyoming politics. It’s up to the news outlets to dispel that notion for readers, Coppini said.
Hughes Jr. has not involved himself in newsroom decision-making, according to Orr and Sniffin. Other former employees of Cowboy State Daily supported that account.
“He lets us run it,” Orr said. “He’s hands off.”
Nationally, news organizations purchased by the ultra wealthy have seen initial increases in newsroom resources. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for example, bought the Washington Post and billionaire doctor Patrick Shoon-Shiong acquired the Los Angeles Times. With time, both newspapers saw layoffs, and in the case of the Washington Post, meddling in editorial direction that some staff journalists found deeply unsettling.
Orr declined to discuss the financial specifics of Hughes Jr.’s investment in Cowboy State Daily, but said the organization had received “a pretty good runway” while it grows its advertising business. Hughes Jr. wants to see the company eventually pay for itself.
Speaking on a panel at the 2024 Wyoming Governor’s Business Forum, Orr said Hughes Jr. had given Cowboy State Daily “a mandate to be self-sustaining.”
Orr is optimistic that it can be, he said.
“It’s like anything, you find your footing, and you get better,” he said. Describing the business’s growth, he said that “sometimes you overreach, then you have to dial it back.”
So far, the Hugheses’ investment in Wyoming journalism, if anything, has only broadened. In August, Wyoming PBS announced that the Hughes Foundation had awarded it a $500,000 grant to help fill a hole left by Trump administration funding cuts.
The donation came roughly a month after Wyoming PBS CEO Joanna Kail penned a column for Cowboy State Daily, in which she laid some of the blame for Trump and congressional Republicans’ cuts to public media at the foot of the organization itself.
“PBS’s unwillingness to confront growing concerns about ideological bias created a perception that it no longer served the public equally,” she wrote.
Cowboy State Daily, on the other hand, has rarely wavered from support for Trump’s policies in its opinion pages. Orr attended the presidential inauguration this year, posting a photograph to social media of himself standing with conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson. In another photo, Orr stands with Wyoming’s Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and Hughes Jr.
Hughes Jr. likely would have had broad access at the event, as federal filings show he donated $1 million to Trump’s 2025 inauguration committee. He’s a repeat supporter, having given the same amount to Trump’s 2017 inauguration and donated at least $505,600 to his 2020 campaign, according to Federal Election Commission reports. He has also earmarked part of his federal donations to state political parties for Trump’s Victory PAC.
“This election was clearly a middle-class repudiation of Beltway establishment politics, Americans fed up with a dysfunctional government that has taken us down the same wrong road for too long,” Hughes Jr. wrote in a 2016 statement when Trump won his first election. “Both institutions have failed us, and Donald Trump has tapped into a discontentment and mood that I have long felt and expressed — it’s time for us to abandon the antiquated, precepts of the left and right.”
Campaign finance heavyweight
Hughes Jr. has long been politically active. And he’s brought that activity to Wyoming, where his wealth could have a significant impact.
Campaign finance records indicate that Molly Hughes has contributed substantially less than her husband.
Hughes Jr. did not respond to questions about his political philosophy, what motivates his spending or what future he wants for Wyoming and the nation. But public records of his spending do tell a story.
While Hughes Jr. has backed Trump financially, and given to many Trump-endorsed candidates at the federal level, his Wyoming political contributions have been more targeted and moderate, campaign finance records show. He’s even given money to some Democrats nationally and in Teton County.
Former Councilor Jim Rooks received money for his campaign when he ran for Jackson Town Council and, most recently, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners. He lost in the 2024 Democratic primary.
Although Rooks said he and the Hugheses don’t agree on every issue — they are, after all, longstanding conservatives — he said they knew he was a “moderate, practical sense candidate.”
“I accepted donations proudly from my friends,” Rooks said. “They believed in me.”
The first national political contribution recorded under the name B. Wayne Hughes Jr. by the Federal Election Commission came in 1990, when he would have been 31. He put $1,000 toward a California Republican candidate for U.S. Congress running in a strongly Democratic district. Hughes Jr.’s candidate lost.
Over the course of the next 35 years, Hughes Jr. would pour millions into political races — including in states where he didn’t live. Aside from supporting Trump’s inaugurations, he has made at least 180 federal campaign contributions totaling $2.3 million since 1990, according to reporters’ analysis of Hughes Jr.’s political spending.
Reporters did not find federal political action committees connected to his name, though Hughes Jr. could have spent more through other avenues, like inaugural committees.
Before 2010, Hughes Jr. made 10 federal contributions, including to President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2000 and the California State Republican Party. FEC records show he also gave to two Democratic PACs before the 2008 election, when Barack Obama became president.
The frequency of Hughes Jr.’s political spending at the federal and state levels increased after 2010, around the same time he started donating to California state races. He spent at least $1.5 million in state elections between 2008 and 2016, according to California Secretary of State campaign finance records.
The height of Hughes Jr.’s federal political giving has come in the last five years. In that time, he has spent $1.9 million supporting congressional and presidential campaigns and political groups, according to FEC reports.
Hughes Jr.’s largest individual donations included $500,000 to President Donald Trump’s Victory PAC in 2020, $396,300 to NRSC Victory and $100,000 to Protect the House 2024. The latter two are PACs aimed at keeping Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Since 2020, he has also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively to candidates closely aligned with Trump, including Rep. Hageman, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican and Trump ally who is now the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Hughes Jr. had backed former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., contributing $30,600 to her campaign in 2020, before she condemned Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Hughes Jr. then gave to Hageman in the 2022 election cycle when she ousted Cheney.
In Wyoming, Hughes Jr. has given more than $637,000 to state legislative candidates since 2020, Wyoming Secretary of State campaign finance records show. His name wasn’t connected to any PACs on the state PAC roster list. Much of that giving came amid a schism between two Republican factions: the hard-right Wyoming Freedom Caucus and the more traditional Wyoming Caucus.
Hughes Jr. had lived in Jackson a few years before he started spending on state politics. His first donation was to Sen. Affie Ellis in Cheyenne in 2020, who was a more moderate candidate. She didn’t respond to requests for comment about her relationship with Hughes Jr. He made two other contributions in 2020: to the Teton County Republican Party and Wyoming Hope.
In 2022, he largely donated to Wyoming Caucus candidates, notably Reps. Barry Crago, Shelly Duncan, Ember Oakley and Jon Conrad as well as Sens. Ogden Driskill, Stacy Jones, Drew Perkins and Wendy Schuler.
Hughes Jr.’s giving to state candidates dropped off in 2024 in comparison to the 2022 election cycle. He made political donations to five Republican candidates not affiliated with the Freedom Caucus. Landon Greer and Kim Withers ran for seats in the Wyoming Senate and lost. David Hill and Robert Hendry ran for seats in the Wyoming House of Representatives and lost. Rob Geringer, meanwhile, won a seat in the Wyoming House.
Over the years, Wyoming Hope has been the largest recipient of Hughes Jr.’s state-level political donations. The PAC supported the continued funding of House Bill 65, which established Wyoming’s suicide prevention hotline. Since 2020, he’s donated $516,000 to the group, accounting for three of the 17 donations made to the PAC since 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Wyoming Freedom Caucus members have questioned public financial support for the hotline. Many members have said it’s the responsibility of churches and nonprofits to step in to provide mental health support, which the Hugheses have done with their philanthropic arm.
Praise and scorn
Former Senate President Driskill met Hughes Jr. when he was looking for a ranch in the eastern Wyoming Black Hills, before the Californian settled on buying a home near Jackson. Driskill said he became friends with both Hugheses and admires their political contributions and philanthropic efforts.
Driskill didn’t ask for the $1,500 that Hughes Jr. donated to his campaign in 2022, but said the Hugheses knew he was being challenged by the far right.
“They made a real effort trying to work with Wyoming politics, and they found out how tough it really is,” Driskill said.
Although Californians draw criticism for moving to Mountain West states and affecting politics, Driskill said the vast majority of people who come to Wyoming seek to fit in.
“I’ve got to be honest,” Driskill said. “I don’t think Wayne and Molly tried to change Wyoming’s culture or community. They tried to support what had been there in the past.”
While Driskill said the Hugheses had “incredible influence on keeping Wyoming stable,” he noted that other powerful actors with money in Teton County are funding the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and the state’s move further right.
“For all the liberal beatings that you folks take,” Driskill said, referring to Jackson, “you’ve got a group of people that’s not investing thousands, they’re investing millions into the hard right.”
Even with Hughes Jr.’s history of donating to Republican candidates and organizations, he’s faced criticism from some further to the right, including Honor Wyoming, a political group founded in 2023 that has supported staunchly conservative politicians aligned with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Jackson residents Rebecca Bextel and Blair Maus and other notable Teton County Republicans are involved with the group. Cheyenne attorney and former Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Drake Hill has represented the group at legislative hearings.
In October 2024, Honor Wyoming accused Cowboy State Daily of “providing biased political coverage, favoring politicians who receive donations from its owner, Wayne Hughes.” The group said he “quickly became the largest spender on Wyoming state politics” after moving to Wyoming in 2017.
The solution the group calls for: “Cowboy State Daily could add a simple disclaimer to every article written by or about any political figures who receive funding from Wayne Hughes or his PAC to add transparency for readers.”
But Orr has rejected the suggestion that Hughes Jr.’s personal support for candidates plays any role in news coverage.
“He’s not involved,” Orr said. “Totally separate.”
Mary Martin, the former chair of the Teton County GOP, first met the Hugheses at the Patriots Dinner in 2022. That year Hughes Jr. gave $51,265 to the Teton County Republican Party. She called them “common sense conservatives.
“I think they were just interested in a good Republican candidate,” she said. “I didn’t see them in any camp. They do their homework on who they’re going to support.”
“They were just like your friend next door.”
mary Martin
It remains to be seen to what extent the Hugheses will participate in state politics going forward. The state is approaching a pivotal 2026 election. Gov. Mark Gordon’s time in office will end after eight years, and the race for the governor’s mansion appears wide open. Meanwhile, the policies of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will face a referendum from voters after the group spent two years leading the Wyoming House of Representatives.
Regardless of who becomes governor and what faction of the right holds sway in the statehouse, the Hugheses are positioned — through their news organization, their philanthropy and their political donations — to continue playing a significant role in the state. And that influence, at least according to those who know them, will be wielded without the fanfare or bombast that’s come to define modern politics.
Martin never would have known the Hugheses were billionaires, she said. Hughes Jr. was unassuming and friendly, causing her to do a double take when she learned more about him.
“They were just like your friend next door,” she said of the couple. “They were very amenable, affable, pleasant. Just like a neighbor.”
This story was reported with research contributions from Sunlight Research Center.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of John P. Ellbogen. —Ed.
Sen. Driskill’s comments tell me a lot — the Hughes support moderate politicians and not the far right “Freedom” Caucus.
As has been said by “them who knows”, you can’t have billionaires AND democracy.
I read CSD when I am curious about a good daytime bar in Mills, the danger of rutting white-tails, a forthcoming ceremony for No.17’s jersey, current legislative squabbles, and unaffordable ranches for sale.
But for insight into whose dollars influence Wyoming politics, culture and opinion, I’ll go elsewhere, like WyoFile.
The owner of CSD, which may be Wyoming’s most important media outlet, declined interview requests from WyoFile. His lawyer cited privacy and safety concerns. Good to know. There is a saying about sauce for the goose….
I am a big fan of horse racing as it is the only sport that benefits a diverse cross section of Americans, so therefore I was a big fan of B. Wayne Hughes Sr.’s Spendthrift farm. While Jr. was bobbing around in the California surf, his sister got the horse bug and ended up with her father’s true passion, Spendthrift Farm, which she is managing quite admirably. The sister is running a true trickle down operation, while Jr. chose to spend money to buy the media narrative in Wyoming and sprinkling money all over Wyoming for “good causes”.
With the influence of Bill Sniffin, a board member of Wyoming Catholic College, BW Hughes Jr., doesn’t have to intercede in the editorial content. The employees of CSD know what needs to be said and if one strays from that narrative then they no longer get their stories run. What I am waiting for is the response from Townsquare media if CSD’s push into their market continues. My hope is that they both burn to the ground.
While it’s good that wealthy people give to charity, what would be better is if they paid this money in taxes so the money can be used for the same safety net services through the government so it’s available for everyone everywhere. By relying on the wealthy to give to these programs it gives them a lot of power and influence as to who and what THEY think are worthy of helping. It also gives them social and political power that benefits them personally, a power and influence the average American can’t buy.
The wealthy despise paying taxes as that lets the “rabble*” to get a say how that money is spent as the wealthy are dead certain they know what is best for humanity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There was a good reason to tax great wealth upon death; however, the wealthy wrecked that and then bought the media to blare how good the wealthy are and how bad the government of the people is. Again a lie.
*rabble – those not born to wealthy parents.
I agree with Rita. BUT until our tax laws get the necessary reforms, I appreciate the work that the Hughes are doing for hungry, imprisoned, veterans, women and children, and Indigenous communities. I am grateful for the in-depth reporting that these fine reporters did on this article!
They made their money in the prosperous state of California, and now they want to have influence in Wyoming where their money will yield more power. Billionaires should not exist, and they certainly should not be influencing our politics. If they were truly good people, they wouldn’t be billionaires.
So happy that Jr is spending Sr’s money. He got his wealth the old fashioned way, inheriting it. Personally I’m tired of billionaires promoting their personal agendas via political campaign donations. Their intentions are not as altruistic as they would like us to believe.
Try reading: Billionaire Wilderness : The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West.
I was prepared to be impressed until I got to the point that he had given Trump two million dollars. Just another super rich Californian buying influence and moving to avoid taxes.
Same here… Kinda blew me away: why are the ultra rich almost ALWAYs tRump supporters no matter how evil tRump gets … He probably figured he would ‘get away with it’ in conservative Wyoming-… siiigh: its politics-and business- as usual…
All these billionaires spreading their largesse just demonstrates that we have the best government that money can buy. Their money, their agenda, in case that wasn’t clear to you all.
The Hughes’ giving to struggling nonprofits is admirable. Their support of Liz Cheney was admirable as well. It is also, to some degree, self-serving. Wyoming now has another Jackson billionaire in the style of the late Foster Friess using his money to promote GOP political agendas and financially supporting a plethora of Republican causes makes me cautious and, frankly, suspicious. Am I cynical? In the current political environment in Wyoming and the country, you bet I am. Jimmy Orr’s comment “he’s (Hughes) not involved. Totally separate” is patently ludicrous. His wealth and money are involved and that level of “behind the scenes” generosity comes with expectations: the bill always comes due at some point. Just what this state does not need: another billionaire Republican pulling political strings “from behind the scenes”. “The Hugheses are positioned — through their news organization, their philanthropy and their political donations — to continue playing a significant role in the state.” No bombast, just sneaking in by the back door. I’ll feel better better about the Hughes’ influence if they throw their open support to rational, reasonable, moderate Republicans to unseat the Freedom Caucus. Until then, no.
anyone who’d donate to a usda agri check subsidy grabbers (Madam Chairman Tim French) political opponent is alright in my book. Hey there Madam Chairman, self proclaimed rugged independent, prove it by reimbursing the taxpayers all of the welfare subsidy checks you’ve cashed.
Wyoming has benefited greatly from its wealthy citizens. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who have shared their good fortune with worthy causes that are important to some or all of us.
The same feeling that prompts us to say, “thanks for your service” to the veterans we meet, should also suggest a, “thank you for your generosity and sense of community” to the philanthropists we meet.
As to the article: well done!
We owe them nothing.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and much more in storage about the Hughes’ Hegemony. I’ll hold my tongue , except …..
… the really disturbing revelation here to me that I’m seeing for the first time concerns Cowboy State Daily seed funding and subsequent transfusions when they were on life support following Foster Friess’ demise. There it is , in unequivocal black and white: Cowboy State Daily was on the sharp rocks bleeding out in 2021 , and they received a $ 150,000 GRANT of Biden’s Covid Relief funding via the Wyoming Business Council. That saved CSD from certain death , but it reeks of corruption and conservative insider political patronage. As it turns out, Covid money was dispersed fast and loose all across Wyoming with almost reckless zeal.
Up here in Park County I was leaked a spreadsheet of every Covid relief fund grantee, It was mindblowing who applied for and got Covid money , but the recipients were not made public , at first. I made sure that sunshine found its way onto the funding scrolls. It resulted in outing a great deal of corrupt misspent or misappropriated Covid money to individuals and businesses that were downright dubious recipients, some criminally so . Many were forced to attone and/or return the money.
What really irks me is the Wyoming political appointee guy that dispersed most of the deceitful dole of Covid largesse in a statewide blizzard – Josh Dorell – still has his job as CEO of the Wyoming Business Council to this day , having escaped accountability for the most part. But that is for another story another day.
This article on the Hughes hegemony by the real Wyoming journalism juggernaut WyoFile is a magnificent galley of investigative reporting that cannot be understated. Bravo.
Great reporting about a couple that defy easy labeling and dismissal by one side or the other of the political spectrum.
I sincerely commend the Hughes family for their extensive charitable contributions. However, I am concerned about the influence that large political donations have on government. My point is not about whether their support goes to Democrats or Republicans; rather, I simply wish that wealth and power did not have the ability to shape government to such an extent.
The Hughes Foundation provided funds to a non-profit in my county which helps our neighbors and friends. They didn’t ask for accolades or the typical “praise us” required by many donor organizations. Nor did they inquire about the political leanings of the board members or demand a change in people’s behaviors like other Jackson Hole do-good groups. Just – what is your need and how can we assist you? I appreciate the positive impact of the Hughes Foundation in my community.
And there are rich liberal Democrats who support candidates, causes, and media interests. It’s the way of the world.
These seem like decent folks who just want to make sure their money makes a difference.
Wayne Jr and Molly Hughes are a welcome asset of positive changes which are so needed …… the kindness and thoughtfulness of extending and sharing are unselfish acts. please, Mr and Mrs Hughes, extend your philanthropy and help to include saving the planet from anti climatic rules and strive to keep the beauty and wide open spaces of Wyoming, free, clean, and a place for nature and all the wild creatures in it safe from harm….
The article shows an honest respect for Mr. Hughes and his philanthropic work. If it’s accurate that Hughes maintains any distance from the freedom caucus’ work, then more power to him. Wyofile does Wyoming proud by highlighting this seemingly humble billionaire and his efforts to help those who the Feds and State have a hard time supporting.
All that said, what leapt out at me from the article is the following quote.
“Wyoming Freedom Caucus members have questioned public financial support for the (suicide) hotline. Many members have said it’s the responsibility of churches and nonprofits to step in to provide mental health support, which the Hugheses have done with their philanthropic arm.”
It’s all well and good for a billionaire to help those less fortunate. However, the idea that churches and nonprofits can provide help to individuals and families who are in crisis is early 19th century thinking. The very reason the Feds assumed partial responsibility for the well-being of ALL citizens is that churches and nonprofits, and State legislatures, didn’t have the resources to do so. Too many people were dying of preventable causes that were not based in individual behaviors. Social and economic conditions are out of the control of you and me individually.
It would be really helpful to Wyoming’s citizens if the kind of thinking in the quote above was expunged from the public sphere. I hope that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes and other wealthy folk can see through to the fragile ground the freedom caucus stands on. I hope they use their vision, and care and concern to help Wyoming past this aberration in the conservative political landscape.
I admire the reluctance the Hughes’ have to have the light of the public eye on them. At the same time, Wyoming deserves to know who is working for them, as well as those who aren’t.
It appears that the Hughes has done a lot of good for Wyoming. I do find it disturbing that the so called christians support Trump. Really, it’s sickening. It’s also obvious how billionaires control our state and the country by supporting ‘their’ politicians, and controlling the news. America has become a very corrupt place.
Trying to figure out the point of this article?
Since your on the subject, maybe do a piece on the John D and Katherine T McArthur foundation and sub-title it “Politics, press and philanthropy”. Just make sure to add a disclaimer regarding any connections.
Billionaires wanting to control human society like their private ant farm is a 2 way street.
Your comment is right on target, Chad.
Great article about a great couple.