Bradley Foundation Head Michael Grebe to Retire

MADISON, Wis. — The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting Bradley Foundation CEO Michael Grebe will be stepping down from his post no later than June 30, 2016.

The largesse of the Bradley Foundation, under Grebe’s direction, underwrites a massive right- wing communications and think tank infrastructure in Wisconsin and across the nation, advocating for the radical privatization of public education, restrictions on voting and labor rights, the repeal of accountability for corporations and a dangerous, Islamophobic foreign policy.

In addition to controlling the $800 million plus Bradley Foundation, Grebe was intimately involved in Republican politics. He co-chaired Gov. Walker’s gubernatorial campaigns and chaired his short lived presidential campaign. U.S. Representative and House of Representatives Speaker-in-waiting Paul Ryan credited Grebe as being his, “political godfather” and Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus rose to power in part due to Grebe’s public support. Even Gov. Walker’s crony appointment to the state high court, Rebecca Bradley, counted Grebe as her campaign chair in her only previous judicial election campaign in 2013.

For more information on the reach of the Grebe led Bradley Foundation and its corrosive influence see: OneWisconsinNow.org/BradleyWatch/

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne on the impending retirement of Mr. Grebe:

“Michael Grebe took the $800 million plus he controlled as head of the Bradley Foundation and integrated it into the fabric of state and national GOP politics – promoting right wing policies, defending favored politicians and, like with Gov. Walker and Rebecca Bradley, personally involving himself in the inner workings of their campaigns.

“As the mentor for Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus and Scott Walker, the divisive path Michael Grebe paved has extended far beyond our borders and while he may retire, his nearly billion dollar empire at the Bradley Foundation will endure and continue.

“From privatizing public schools, to attacking working men and women to denying access to the right to vote, there is not a Republican attack on the Wisconsin way of life Michael Grebe hasn’t underwritten.

“The timing of his ostensible exit from the public stage makes you wonder about a connection to the implosion of Gov. Walker’s presidential campaign and his failure to become the ultimate man behind the curtain.”