Black Lives Matter Sues Soros-Funded Tides Foundation Over $33 Million in Withheld Funds [WATCH]

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) has filed a lawsuit accusing the progressive Tides Foundation of withholding more than $33 million in donations, escalating tensions between the two organizations.

The case, filed last year, gained new urgency on Monday when BLMGNF asked the California Attorney General to intervene and investigate Tides’ handling of the funds.

The lawsuit alleges “deceptive business practices” and “egregious mismanagement” by Tides, which has served as a fiscal sponsor for BLMGNF since the group’s formation in 2013.

Black Lives Matter suing Soros-backed Tides Foundation over missing $33M
The national Black Lives Matter movement claims $33.4 million of its cash is being withheld by one of its progressive partner organizations, The Post has learned.
In a scathing lawsuit, Black Lives Matter… pic.twitter.com/UGqINjnpyH

— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) October 1, 2025

BLMGNF claims Tides failed to honor commitments to properly safeguard donations and, in some cases, misused millions of dollars belonging to the foundation.

BLMGNF attorney Lawrence Segal said that Tides continued spending BLM funds despite assurances that the money would be frozen during ongoing litigation.

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“My client now has to pay money just to get their own money back, after my client raised 100% of it,” Segal said.

He further alleged that “more than $1 million has been spent by Tides out of my client’s money just on attorney’s fees — possibly to pay their own lawyers. It appears that they are paying themselves from charitable donations in order to pay the legal fees that resulted from this case.”

The dispute stems from BLMGNF’s early reliance on Tides to process donations when the movement launched in 2013.

Because the organization did not initially qualify as a tax-exempt charity, it partnered with Tides to distribute funds from donors.

Tensions rose dramatically after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, which brought in approximately $90 million in donations to BLM between 2020 and 2022.

Tides, which manages more than $1.4 billion in assets from numerous nonprofits, pools funds from all of its clients, according to BLMGNF’s legal filings.

This commingling of funds, BLM claims, made it impossible to track where its money was being directed. “TIDES does not segregate monies,” Segal told the New York Post.

“All of my client’s money is apparently commingled in one giant account. Tides’ fiscal sponsorships are very loosely regulated, at best.”

Tides has denied wrongdoing, previously calling the claims “completely false.”

In a prior statement, the group said: “BLMGNF’s lawsuit seeks to circumvent the intent of the Fund’s donors and deprive grassroots Black Lives Matter chapters critical resources, for its own benefit.”

At the same time, BLMGNF has faced its own scrutiny over financial management.

Of the $90 million raised after Floyd’s death, only about $30 million was distributed for charitable purposes in the following two years, while another $22 million went toward salaries and investments.

Co-founder Patrisse Cullors drew controversy after reports surfaced in 2021 that she purchased multiple homes, prompting her resignation a month later.

She maintained the properties were not purchased with BLM donations.

Federal filings also show that her brother, Paul Cullors, continues to receive more than $200,000 annually as the group’s “head of security.”

The Tides Foundation has faced additional criticism beyond its dealings with BLM.

In 2024, the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), questioned Tides’ nonprofit status.

In a September 24 letter to the IRS, Smith accused Tides of channeling donations to groups that organized anti-Israel demonstrations at Ivy League campuses following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.

“The Tides Foundation, in conjunction with the Adalah Justice Project and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, has engaged in conduct directly intended to incite riots, cause chaos and disrupt college campuses,” Smith wrote.

He added that Tides has acted as “one of the largest funders for several groups involved in antisemitic activity across the country — all despite its stated tax-exempt purpose and charitable mission.”

Public records also show Tides has received tens of millions of dollars from billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Fund.

The lawsuit between BLMGNF and Tides is scheduled to go to trial in August 2026.

Just posting the screenshots of receipts of these $27 million of grants from USAID to Tides Center, which has housed the 501c3 for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and FJP, which serves as a pressurizer for action by domestic prosecutors https://t.co/nFm7wqXntQ pic.twitter.com/5eARJUxtmO

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 11, 2025