Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire and prominent Democratic donor, is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee of his California winery, Halter Ranch.
Through his $2.7 billion Wyss Foundation, his $232 million Berger Action Fund, the Democracy Alliance’s Democracy Fund, and the Arabella Advisors network of dark money groups, Wyss has become a major financial player in progressive politics.
In Maine, Wyss is the benefactor for the progressive “Maine Morning Star” blog, and he also reportedly helped finance the National Trust for Local News’ acquisition of the Portland Press Herald and its related media sites.
The lawsuit, first reported by the Daily Caller, was filed by Madison Busby, a 30-year-old former employee, who alleges that Wyss made repeated unwanted sexual advances, exposed himself, groped her, and shared graphic stories of his sexual experiences. According to the lawsuit, the alleged misconduct began during Busby’s first meeting with Wyss in 2019, when he reportedly groped her. Busby’s husband, Bryce Mullins, was the winery’s manager at the time.
The complaint, as cited by the Daily Caller, further alleges that Wyss made lewd remarks and propositioned Busby and Mullins for sex in January 2021, telling Busby he enjoyed threesomes and that Americans were “too uptight” about affairs. Busby claims Wyss retaliated after she rejected his advances by raising their rent and pressuring her to accept a pay cut.
The lawsuit also claims that in 2022, Wyss admitted to exposing himself, allegedly telling Busby, “If you ever went after me for sexual harassment, you would win,” according to the Daily Caller. Despite this admission, the suit states, Wyss continued his inappropriate behavior. This is not Wyss’s first such allegation; in 2013, he settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with Jacqueline Long, a former officer at his HJW Foundation, for $1.5 million, as reported by the Daily Caller.
Wyss, who made his fortune founding the medical device company Synthes, sold to Johnson & Johnson for $20 billion in 2012, has emerged as a significant figure in U.S. politics, particularly in Maine, despite being a Swiss national barred from directly donating to American political campaigns. Through his Wyss Foundation, with $1.7 billion in assets, and the Berger Action Fund, Wyss has funneled over $650 million to liberal advocacy groups, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund, both linked to the Arabella Advisors network, according to a report from Americans for Public Trust cited by the Daily Caller.
In Maine, Wyss’s influence extends to media and politics. The Maine Wire has previously reported that Wyss, alongside George Soros, funded the 2023 purchase of several Maine newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald, by the National Trust for Local News, a Colorado-based nonprofit. The trust, which at the time owned 65 newspapers nationwide, reported $46 million in revenue in 2023.
The national trust’s Maine front, the Maine Trust for Local News, initially promised transparency about the role of Wyss and George Soros in funding the purchase of the newspapers. But the organization has never followed up on that promise with any form of disclosure. Even reporters for the Press Herald have subsequently reported that donor information for the “Maine Trust” remains unclear.
Wyss’s political activism in Maine and beyond has drawn scrutiny for exploiting loopholes in U.S. campaign finance laws. As a foreign national, Wyss cannot contribute directly to candidates, but his nonprofits support groups that engage in voter mobilization, redistricting efforts, and progressive policy advocacy.
A 2021 New York Times report revealed that Wyss’s foundations donated $208 million from 2016 to early 2020 to groups supporting Democratic causes, including the Center for American Progress and Priorities USA, which backed President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Critics, including Republicans cited by the Daily Caller, argue that Wyss uses his nonprofits to skirt prohibitions on foreign influence in U.S. elections, funding state ballot initiatives and get-out-the-vote efforts.
