The Money Man Behind Rick Santorum: Who Is Foster S. Friess?

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Daily Finance:

In this post-Citizens United era, every presidential candidate needs the backing of a super PAC, one of those independent political action committees that can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, other groups and individuals. That even applies to President Barack Obama, who on Tuesday reversed himself and asked his financial backers to donate money to super PACs supporting his reelection campaign. Previously, the president had called unlimited spending by super PACs "a threat to our democracy." Now, says the president, to campaign without one would be to unilaterally disarm.

And behind each super PAC, it seems, is at least one extremely wealthy individual, committed for his own reasons to a particular candidate. Newt Gingrich has casino mogul Sheldon Adelson; Rick Santorum, who stunned the political world Tuesday night by winning three (admittedly nonbinding) state GOP contests -- in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota -- has Foster S. Friess, a hugely successful investor who calls himself, rather immodestly, "the man atop the horse."

A Born-Again Philanthropist

In 1974, Friess founded the mutual fund management company Friess Associates, which currently has in excess of $4.6 billion in assets under management. Before that, Friess -- a Wisconsin native who grew up on a cattle ranch and studied business administration at the state university -- spent two years in Army Intelligence and served as director of research for a New York Stock Exchange firm. Friess is said to have sold 51% of his eponymous company in 2001 for $247 million, but reportedly still holds a 10% stake in it.

The central fact of Friess' personal life seems to be his status as a born-again Christian. Shortly after launching Friess Associates, he found himself, by his own account, in "a marriage flirting with divorce," raising "emotionally distant children." Citing Blaise Pascal's maxim -- "Within each person is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill" -- Friess found religion: In October 1978, he has said (with surprising casualness), "I did one of those 'born again' things and invited Jesus to become the 'Chairman of the Board' -- of my life."