Funds from Controversial Backgrounds Involve Ivy League Economic Research
The Center for Economic Policy at an Ivy League institution, often mentioned in mainstream media, has acquired significant funding from a group affiliated with the brother of a dating app co-founder who has a contentious history.
Sam Yagan, who helped establish the dating site OkCupid, has contributed $400,000 to the Yale Institute for Budget Research. His past includes facing lawsuits related to sexual harassment and ties to businesses with regulatory challenges.
His brother, Danny Yagan, serves as co-founder and chief economist at Budget Lab. The Yagan Family Foundation, established by Sam and his wife Jessica, has also provided $200,000 to Budget Labs in recent years, according to ProPublica.
Sam Yagan faced criticism in 2014 when Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to “sexual abuse and intimidation” by another Tinder executive, and that Yagan overlooked these allegations, as reported by Crain’s Chicago Business.
At that time, Yagan was leading Match Group, the parent company for popular dating platforms including OkCupid and Tinder. Wolfe, who later went on to create Bumble, remarked that Yagan seemed indifferent about the harassment claims.
Budget Lab is described as a nonpartisan research center examining the influence of government policies on the U.S. economy. It aims to offer detailed assessments of federal policy initiatives, as mentioned on its website.
Founded by three former officials from the Biden administration, including Danny Yagan, the Budget Institute seeks to fill voids in current economic analyses, per Yale Daily News.
The center looks into various subjects, such as the effects of artificial intelligence on employment, the economic implications of tariffs, and its own models for early childhood education and care.
Prominent outlets like The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and NPR have referenced Budget Labs in their discussions.
Sam Yagan also co-founded Corazon Capital, a venture capital firm that has been linked to some controversies. For instance, in 2022, one of its portfolio companies, SafeGraph, was criticized for selling location data from individuals visiting Planned Parenthood clinics.
Additionally, another firm in Corazon’s portfolio, Clarify, settled with the Federal Trade Commission regarding data privacy issues, having allegedly accessed millions of OkCupid users’ photos for its AI training needs.
SpotHero, another investment of Corazon, is embroiled in legal issues in California over its pricing methods.
Danny Yagan’s research has also garnered support from liberal entities like the Arnold Foundation and the Sloan Foundation, both of which focus on evidence-based initiatives in their philanthropic efforts.
