Mike Pence

Corporate Cabinet Profile Series

See the full Corporate Cabinet at CorporateCabinet.org.

Cabinet Title: Vice President

Corporate Connection: Koch Industries

Former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence received hundreds of thousands of dollars from right-wing billionaire David Koch and benefited from ads run by the Koch brothers during his gubernatorial campaign. He also has raked in eye-popping sums from the finance sector, construction industry, pharmaceutical industry and chemical industry. Pence favors austerity when it comes to government spending. As a congressman, he opposed fiscal stimulus, and as governor of Indiana, he paid for corporate tax cuts by reducing local spending.

• Pence has enjoyed support from David Koch, right-wing billionaire co-owner of Koch Industries, who has donated $300,000 to Pence’s campaigns.
• Pence benefited from supportive ads from Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity during his gubernatorial run.
• Americans for Prosperity also ran ads during Pence’s governorship to support his policies.
• Pence opposed the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, saying that “it still would have been better if G.M. had gone through an orderly reorganization bankruptcy without taxpayer support.” Pence generally opposes government spending on private sector initiatives, preferring to let the marketplace decide whether companies fail.
• During his political career, Pence has received more than $1.5 million from the finance sector, more than $1 million from the construction industry, $793,750 from the pharmaceutical industry, and $685,283 from the chemical industry.