Apple spent record $4.1M to lobby U.S. government in 2014
Federal lobbying disclosures filed this week revealed the extent to which Apple has beefed up lobbying operations in recent years, as the $1.2 million the company spent in the fourth quarter of last year pushed its full-year total over $4 million for the first time ever.
That figure represents an 18 percent year-over-year increase from the $3.4 million Apple spent in 2013, itself a record expenditure. Apple did not cross the $1 million threshold until 2006, and continues to spend relatively little on lobbying compared to its position as the largest company in the world by market capitalization.
Second-place Exxon Mobil, for instance, spent more than $12.5 million over the same period.
As noted previously, Apple focuses its lobbying efforts primarily on issues directly related to its product lineup. Consumer health data, safe driving, e-books and data privacy are among the areas that received attention from either Apple's in-house lobbying team or its 23 contract lobbyists.
The company's leadership has also taken a more active role, frequently traveling to Washington to meet with key decision makers. Most recently, company chief Tim Cook met with Utah Sen. Orinn Hatch in December.
That figure represents an 18 percent year-over-year increase from the $3.4 million Apple spent in 2013, itself a record expenditure. Apple did not cross the $1 million threshold until 2006, and continues to spend relatively little on lobbying compared to its position as the largest company in the world by market capitalization.
Second-place Exxon Mobil, for instance, spent more than $12.5 million over the same period.
As noted previously, Apple focuses its lobbying efforts primarily on issues directly related to its product lineup. Consumer health data, safe driving, e-books and data privacy are among the areas that received attention from either Apple's in-house lobbying team or its 23 contract lobbyists.
The company's leadership has also taken a more active role, frequently traveling to Washington to meet with key decision makers. Most recently, company chief Tim Cook met with Utah Sen. Orinn Hatch in December.
Comments
Lobbying seems to be a black hole and is used to fight fires.
People who think Apple can get away with spending zero on lobbying, or even that it would be a sane or responsible thing to do, live on another planet. Either way, $1.2 million is fucking peanuts, and probably the minimum that Apple feels it can get away with spending. Companies that only make a fraction of the $$ Apple makes are spending far, far more- so I'm not worried about this figure.
[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/54558/width/1000/height/800[/IMG]
That's peanuts compared to the $3,000,000,000 Apple spent on Beats.
If Steve had been pushed hard enough to care about politics (say these lawsuits continue and he’s finally convinced by one of Apple’s legal department–or gets it in his head that it’s right–to stab the heart of the corruption), he would have had Apple spend money, not on lobbying, but on pushing for the elimination of lobbying.
I’m told I’m a “naive idealist” when I express confusion at the concept of “hey, we’ll fund you to vote our way.” That’s not how it works; you support someone because you believe in what he’s going to do over what the other guy is going to do, not just to pay him off to do what you want. Anything else needs to be illegal.