TL/DR –
Democratic megadonor James Simons’ hedge fund increased its investment in several solar energy companies around the same time Democratic leaders were negotiating President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which significantly benefitted these companies. Simons’s trades and well-timed donations to the Senate Majority PAC raise questions about whether he had advance knowledge of the IRA negotiations. This has led to concerns about the links between Biden’s climate politics and investors profiting from legislation, which some critics view as transferring taxpayer funds to special interest groups.
Simons’ Hedge Fund Profited from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
Democratic Leader James Simons’s hedge fund significantly raised its investment in multiple solar energy companies around the time the Democratic Party was confidentially discussing President Joe Biden’s pioneering Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The companies gained huge benefits from the bill.
Just over a week before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin publicly revealed the IRA on July 27, 2022, Simons donated $2.5 million to Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC. A week after the bill was signed, Simons contributed an additional $2.5 million to the PAC.
This aptly timed trading activity and donations, raise suspicion whether Simons had prior knowledge of the private IRA discussions. It’s also suggestive that Simons intended to take advantage of the solar industry benefits highlighted in the IRA by increasing his investments in multiple solar companies, including those based in China.
The $739 billion tax and climate package expanded extensive tax credits for solar manufacturing and residential and commercial solar projects. The leading solar industry association in the US emphasized these tax credits as a key federal policy to boost solar energy growth.
Simons had a close personal tie with Schumer, who considered Simons a “dear friend and mentor”. Michael Chamberlain, Director of government watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust expressed his concern about the overlap between the recipients of green programs and the administration’s political allies.
The financial data observed by the Washington Free Beacon showed that Simons’s hedge fund increased its stakes in several solar companies during the same period when the IRA was being negotiated and signed into law.
“It is incredibly concerning that some of President Biden’s largest donors financially benefited from his flagship legislation,” said Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director of Americans for Public Trust. Sutherland added that this has become standard for this administration.
During 2022, the hedge fund purchased shares worth approximately $17.5 million in First Solar. It further increased its stake in the Chinese firm Daqo New Energy and Canadian Solar. It also increased its position in Maxeon Solar Technologies from less than $1 million to $3 million in the third quarter of 2022.
Generally, solar stocks value risen after Schumer and Manchin presented the IRA with its solar tax credits. However, the Invesco Solar exchange-traded fund that tracks a variety of solar companies, peaked in late July 2022 before declining months later.
The Associated Press initially reported Renaissance Technologies’ investments in First Solar and Simons’s campaign contributions to the Senate Majority PAC during the 2022 IRA negotiations.
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