Bradford M. "Brad" Freeman is an American businessman and conservative political fundraiser.

Career

Freeman was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, and attended Stanford University on a football scholarship.^[1] He received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966.^[1] Upon graduation, Freeman served six years in the National Guard and began a career as an investment banker for the firm Dean Witter Reynolds.^[2][1] In 1983, Freeman co-founded an investment banking firm called Riordan, Freeman & Spogli with later Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Ronald P. Spogli.^[1] The firm was renamed Freeman Spogli & Co. after Riordan's exit. By 2001, the fund controlled over $900 million in assets.^[1]

Freeman has also served as a director of Morgan Stanley DW, RDO Equipment, Koll Management Services, CBRE Group, Southern California Edison, and Edison International.^[3]

Other activities

Freeman was introduced to George W. Bush in 1979, and the two quickly became good friends.^[1] Freeman served on the "Team of 100," George H. W. Bush's group of top fundraisers, and helped raise funds for George W. Bush's campaigns for Governor of Texas.^[2] Freeman served as a "Pioneer" in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and helped raise millions of dollars for Bush and the Republican National Committee.^[1] Freeman also served as chairman of the 2000 Presidential Inaugural Committee.^[1] Though Freeman himself did not earn a major presidential appointment,^[2] Freeman's business partner, Ron Spogli, was appointed Ambassador to Italy in 2005.^[4]

In the 2016 film Meet the Donors: Does Money Talk, Freeman said that after raising and contributing millions of dollars to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, he was expecting a government appointment such as "a chance to run the CIA," but Bush instead offered him his cat.^[5] According to friends, Bush did arrange for Freeman a membership of Augusta National Golf Club.

Freeman has served on the board of trustees of Stanford University.^[3]