Teddy Schleifer is a Washington-based politics correspondent for The New York Times, specializing in how tech wealth reshapes elections and policy. With unrivaled access to Silicon Valley’s elite, he decodes the financial architectures behind headlines—from Musk’s PAC strategies to Zuckerberg’s philanthropic pivots.
"Schleifer doesn’t just report on billionaires—he reverse-engineers their playbooks." – Politico Media Newsletter
We’ve followed Teddy Schleifer’s evolution from a politics-obsessed Princeton undergrad to one of America’s foremost chroniclers of wealth and power. His career began at the Houston Chronicle, where he broke national news about Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential bid while still cutting his teeth on local politics. A formative CNN stint sharpened his focus on campaign finance, leading to his 2021 role as a founding partner at Puck, where he pioneered coverage of Silicon Valley’s billionaire class. His 2024 return to The New York Times as a politics correspondent marks a new chapter in scrutinizing how tech fortunes reshape democracy.
This landmark 2023 investigation traced Musk’s transformation from apolitical entrepreneur to GOP kingmaker, revealing his covert funding of Trump-aligned PACs through shell companies. Schleifer’s sourcing from both Musk’s inner circle and disillusioned Tesla engineers created a Rashomon effect, illustrating how tech leaders rationalize political realignment as "anti-woke pragmatism." The piece’s impact reverberated through SEC filings showing surging Republican donations from previously apolitical founders.
When FTX collapsed, Schleifer was first to map how the crypto wunderkind’s $40M political donation spree targeted both parties’ establishment wings. His forensic analysis of state-level PACs exposed SBF’s attempts to curry favor with banking committee leaders—a blueprint that became essential reading during the fraud trial. Legal experts cited this work when prosecutors argued the donations constituted a "bipartisan protection racket."
In this 2025 deep dive, Schleifer revealed how Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen are funneling capital through novel "innovation PACs" that bypass traditional donation limits. By marrying FEC data with leaked Slack messages, he showed tech investors treating political spending like startup bets—diversifying across MAGA candidates and moderate Dems while demanding ROI metrics. The piece sparked hearings about updating campaign finance laws for the digital age.
Schleifer prioritizes systemic analysis over personality profiles. A successful pitch might explore how multiple billionaires coordinate donations through shared legal counsel rather than profiling a single CEO’s views. His 2024 piece on the "PayPal Mafia’s" reunion tour demonstrated this approach, tracking how Thiel, Musk, and Sacks created overlapping funding vehicles.
With SEC and FEC filings as his Rosetta Stone, Schleifer thrives on mapping obscured financial trails. PR pros should highlight connections between corporate structuring (SPVs, family offices) and political activity. His scoop about Bezos using LLCs to mask Commanders bid lobbying expenses exemplifies this beat.
Unlike journalists who treat charity as feel-good filler, Schleifer dissects how mega-donors use nonprofits for legacy-building and policy influence. Pitch angles connecting 501(c)(4) spending to corporate interests, like his expose on Zuckerberg’s education grants favoring charter schools near Meta data centers.
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