Reverend Al Sharpton’s nonprofit civil rights charity, the National Action Network, paid more than $80,000 to the preacher’s relatives last year, tax records show have revealed.
Receiving the bulk of the family-friendly funds was Sharpton’s 33-year-old daughter Ashley Sharpton, who was paid $63,250 for social media and consulting work for NAN, according to a 2019 tax filing obtained by the New York Post.
The reverend’s niece Nikki Sharpton, 45, also got some love from the organization, raking in $13,750 for special event work at NAN’s Atlanta location.
And Sharpton’s estranged wife Kathy Jordan Sharpton, from whom he separated in 2004, received a $5,000 grant from NAN, the filing showed.
The money doled out to Sharpton’s relatives represented a tiny fraction of the $7.5million NAN spent over the course of the year, when it received $7.8million in revenue.
Reverend Al Sharpton’s nonprofit civil rights charity, the National Action Network, paid more than $80,000 to the preacher’s relatives last year, tax records have revealed. Receiving the bulk of the family-friendly funds was Sharpton’s 33-year-old daughter Ashley Sharpton (pictured in 2019), who was paid $63,250 for social media and consulting work for NAN
Sharpton’s niece Nikki Sharpton, 45, (left together) was paid $13,750 for special event work at NAN’s Atlanta location and his estranged wife Kathy Jordan Sharpton (right together) received a $5,000 grant for a scholarship fund
As the president of NAN, Sharpton was paid $327,570 in 2019. That salary included a one percent raise from the year before.
However Sharpton’s final paycheck in 2019 was much lower than 2018’s, which included an extra $722,948 on top of his base salary because of money he was owed from previous years, NAN said.
About one-fourth of NAN’s 2019 expenses – $1.2million – were devoted to travel and transportation, the tax filing showed.
That included an astonishing $777,623 paid to Carey International, a luxury limousine service.
NAN spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger explained to the Post that the car service expenses encompassed transportation around the country not just for staff but for talent at the group’s annual conference and victims attending rallies or trials.
Noerdlinger said Sharpton used the car service infrequently because he prefers using his own vehicle.
The spokeswoman said 2019 saw such high travel expenses because it was a ‘banner organizing year in preparation for 2020’, citing ‘voter engagement and registration, work around the census and construction of NAN tech hubs around the United States’.
As the president of NAN, Sharpton was paid $327,570 in 2019, according to the tax filing. Sharpton is seen speaking to a crowd at a NAN event in Washington in August
Asked about the grant money paid to Sharpton’s wife, Noerdlinger said it was for a scholarship fund Kathy Jordan Sharpton runs through her church.
She said NAN has contributed to the fund every year, but the Post noted that no such grants have been listed on previous tax filings.
The Post also pointed out that Sharpton’s eldest daughter Dominique Sharpton, 34, was not listed as receiving any compensation even though she’s been the membership director for NAN since 2008.
Sharpton founded NAN in New York City in 1991. It bills itself as an ‘activist social justice organization that works within the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to provide a modern civil rights and human rights agenda’.
NAN’s tax record sparked controversy in 2018 when a filing revealed that Sharpton had sold the rights to his life story to the organization for an eye-popping $531,000.
NAN explained the sale by saying it could make money by selling the rights to filmmakers or others. It’s unclear whether any profit has been made off the move two years later.