Johann Georg "Hansjörg" Wyss (/ˈhɑːnzˌjɜːrk ˈwiːs/ HAHN-zyohrg WEESS; born 19 September 1935) is a Swiss billionaire businessman and donor to politically liberal and environmental causes in the United States.

[5] After receiving a master's degree in civil and structural engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 1959,[6] Wyss earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1965.

Following that, he worked in various positions in the textile industry, including as a factory engineer and project manager for Chrysler in Pakistan, Turkey and the Philippines.

[8] He founded the company after meeting Martin Allgoewer, the founder of AO Foundation, and obtaining permission to sell the organization's devices in the Americas.

[7] Prior to that, another Swiss company manufactured Synthes' devices and exported them to the U.S.[7] Under Wyss' control, the U.S. division expanded its sales team and trained surgeons how to use its products.

Attorneys for Eastern Pennsylvania for using an untested calcium-phosphate-based bone cement on human patients without authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

[21] Wyss has said that he became passionate about the American West and land preservation after visiting the U.S. in 1958 as a student and taking a summer job as a surveyor with the Colorado Highway Department.

[22] The objective of the foundation was to establish and sponsor informal partnerships between non-governmental organizations and the United States government, in order to place large swathes of land under permanent protection in the American West.

[24][25] Other causes the Wyss Foundation supports include river restorations,[20] ocean conservation in Peru and Canada,[17] anti-poaching efforts in Africa and environmental journalism.

[20] In 2013, he donated $4.25 million to The Trust for Public Land for the purchase of oil and gas leases in Wyoming to prevent development in the Hoback Basin.

[1][20] In 2016, Wyss made another donation to the Trust for Public Land that resulted in the expansion of Saguaro National Park in Arizona by 300 acres, including a mile and a half of Rincon Creek.

He serves on the boards of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Center for American Progress, and the Grand Canyon Trust.

[5] In January 2015, the conservative U.S. news site The Daily Caller accused John Podesta, who was at the time an advisor on environmental issues to the Obama administration, of an alleged ethics violation for pushing the advocacy agenda of a former employer because, previously, he had received $87,000 as a consulting fee for work he did in 2013 for the HJW Foundation (a Wyss organization that later was merged with the Wyss Foundation).

[38] In 2021, The New York Times reported that Wyss had "quietly created a sophisticated political operation to advance progressive policy initiatives and the Democrats who support them".

[28] The Hub Project is part of Arabella Advisors, a leading vehicle for funneling "dark money" on the political center-left.

The Sixteen Thirty Fund gives directly to political committees and pays for TV ads that back specific candidates and causes.

[39] The New Venture Fund underwrites Acronym, which owns the Courier Newsroom, a group seeking to boost Democratic candidates through local news stories and advertising.

The New York Times reported that "the big-money activism of Mr. Wyss and Mr. Bainum highlights concerns that wealthy owners may try to influence news coverage to advance their political agendas",[28] and on April 14, 2021,[41] they identified him as the top bidder.

On April 17, 2021, Wyss backed out of the potential deal while Bainum Jr. continued to seek alternate investors in his bid to buy Tribune Publishing.

The Associated Press found that Wyss's "influence is still broadly felt through millions of dollars routed through a network of nonprofit groups that invest heavily in the Democratic ecosystem.

The majority of the Berger Action Fund's $72 million expenditures in 2021 went to building public support for Joe Biden's agenda and thereby "cementing Wyss' status as a Democratic-aligned megadonor.

[28] As of 2021, The New York Times wrote, he "has not disclosed publicly whether he holds citizenship or permanent residency" in the U.S.[44] Wyss lives in Wyoming.

[6] He is involved in outdoor education programs and he funds local efforts to conserve wildlife habitat and public lands in the Rocky Mountains.