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[[Image:Freiss_Foster.jpg||left|200px]]'''Foster Stephen Friess''' (born April 2, 1940 in Rice Lake, WI) is an American businessman mutual fund manager and supporter of conservative Christian and radical Right causesand candidates. In a 2001 article, ''BusinessWeek'' suggested Friess , who manages the multi-billion dollar Brandywine Fund, "may be the longest-surviving successful growth-stock picker, having navigated markets for 36 years, in his own firm since 1974."<ref>{{cite web|author=Robert Barker |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_29/b3741112.htm |title=Buy-and-Hold Isn't His Style |work=Bloomberg BusinessWeek |date=2001-07-16 |accessdate=2011-09-19}}</ref>
==Life==
Foster Friess was born in 1940 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, a town of approximately 5,000 people. His father was a cattle dealer with a high school education and his mother dropped out of 8th grade to pick cotton on the family farm to rescue it from bankruptcy. While earning a degree in Business Administration from the [[University of Wisconsin]], he served as president of the Chi Phi Fraternity, enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and was named one of the "ten most outstanding senior men." In 1962 Foster married Lynnette Estes and two sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren followed.
Foster is a born-again evangelical Christian. He moved to Wyoming for the beneficial regulatory and tax climate that the well-to-do enjoy in that state.
==Career==
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Foster trained to be an infantry platoon leader and served as the intelligence officer for the First Guided Missile Brigade, [[Fort Bliss]], [[Texas]]. In 1964, Foster launched his investment career with the Brittingham family-controlled NYSE member firm in Wilmington, Delaware, eventually becoming Director of Research. Success came slowly during the beginning years of building his own investment management firm, [http://www.brandywinefunds.com/bfunds.nsf/homepage Friess Associates] which he and Lynn launched in 1974.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brandywinefunds.com/bfunds.nsf?Open |title=FRIESS ASSOCIATES |publisher=Brandywinefunds.com |date=2011-08-08 |accessdate=2011-09-19}}</ref>
==Awards and achievements==
* Childhelp Spirit of the Children Award, 2010
* Paul Weyrich Award, Benefactor of the Year, 2009
==Political Activism==
* He is a member of the secretive conservative [[Council for National Policy]] that coordinates objectives amongst the network of astroturf grass roots groups, think tanks, Super PACs and their wealthy funders.
* Opposition to national health reform through patient-driven health care activist group [http://www.freemarketcure.com/ Free Market Cure] and other groups.
* Choice in Education through [http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/New/index.html Alliance for School Choice], [http://www.allchildrenmatter.org/ All Children Matter] and others
* He was acknowledged at the privately held Koch seminar in June 2011 in Vail, Colorado for donating at least $1 million to Koch-related causes.<ref>Gavin Aronsen, "[http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/koch-brothers-million-dollar-donor-club The Koch Brothers' Million-Dollar Donor Club]", Mother Jones, September 6, 2011</ref>
* Friess gives to conservative think tanks like the [[American Enterprise Institute]], and to education groups that advocate for school voucher programs, including the [[Alliance for School Choice]]. <ref> [http://wyofile.com/2011/01/foster-friess/ WyoFile - Foster Friess]]</ref>
* In the near future, Friess expects to make grants to advocate for the FairTax — which would replace the current federal system of taxation with a tax on retail sales. <ref> [http://wyofile.com/2011/01/foster-friess/ WyoFile - Foster Friess]]</ref>
===2012===
===2009===
* He was a sponsor of a 2009 [[Goldwater Institute]] breakfast.
===1997===
* Friess created a stir in Jackson Hole when he "made the Grand Teton Music Festival an offer it didn't refuse: a $40,000 donation in return for swearing off $10,950 in government aid. In response Warren Adler, the town's resident literary giant, created an uproar, writing in a local newspaper, ''Must we all think one way and be cowed into accepting a political agenda because the highest bidder demands it?''"<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/23/arts/a-gift-with-strings-ties-up-a-town.html A Gift With Strings Ties Up a Town], James Brooke, New York Times, August 23, 1997</ref>
* Freiss reportedly has put more than $3M into conservative commentator [[Tucker Carlson]]'s [[The Daily Caller]] website..<ref>" [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/04/9958729-wealthy-wyoming-investment-fund-manager-bankrolling-pro-santorum-super-pac Wealthy Wyoming investment fund manager bankrolling pro-Santorum Super PAC]," by Michael Isikoff , NBC News</ref>
==Website & Blog==