Rex Sinquefield

Rex Sinquefield is a billionaire who is deeply vested in Missouri politics. He is the founder and president of the conservative, libertarian Show-Me Institute, which he proclaims is Missouri's "only free-market think tank." The Show-Me Institute is a member of the national State Policy Network. Sinquefield is on the Leadership Council of the Club for Growth. He pens his own twice-monthly blog at Forbes, entitled "A Taxing State of Affairs."

Now a retired financial executive, Sinquefield created the first Standard & Poor's index funds in 1973. He co-founded Dimensional Fund Advisors in 1981, which now manages more than $200 billion in assets.

2012 Election
Sinquefield spent $21 million on Missouri politics in 2012. A group he co-founded, Now Or Never PAC, spent $800,000 on a last-week ad for Senate candidate Todd Akin -- Sinquefield gave the PAC $200,000 in 2012.

Sinquefield focuses many of his large financial contributions in Missouri on private school vouchers and campaign contribution limits. This includes creating 100 PACs to funnel donations through and bypass legal limits of individual donations to political campaigns, and creating petition drives to attack teachers' tenure and advocate for elimination of the income tax. He quoted an article claiming that the Ku Klux Klan came up with the public school system to harm African-American children's development. The column was written by a former judge, Ralph Voss, in the Unterrified Democrat newspaper.

Sinquefield also spent $11.3 million in 2010 to support a successful ballot initiative banning new local income taxes in Missouri.