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The Napster co-founder and founding Facebook president has turned his attention to politics. In April, he started Brigade Media, a startup that will harness technology to enhance civic engagement. He contributed most of the venture’s $9.3 million in early funding, with angel investor Ron Conway and Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff chipping in. Parker has given more than $1.4 million to political candidates since last year. For reasons he hasn’t explained, he ramped up his contributions to Republicans, after donating mostly to Democrats in the past. Parker’s fortune reached the $3 billion mark this year thanks to rising share prices for Facebook.
