The KitchenAid NOligarchy Profile
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NOligarchy Score
64.1
/ 100
kitchenaid.com
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Subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation
KitchenAid earns a NOligarchy Score of 63.98 out of 100 — driven by a below-average Wealth Extraction grade as Whirlpool Corporation’s parent-level pay metrics are weighted into the score, and a weak Political Access grade from sustained federal lobbying spend. From Q3 2024 through Q2 2026 (8 quarters — the two-year tracking period), that lobbying total stands at $2.23 million. The pay gap inherited from parent company Whirlpool remains a separate and persistent concern.
Current Pillar Scores
Political Access and Wealth Extraction include disclosures reported at the Whirlpool Corporation (parent company) level. Playing by the Rules reflects this company directly.
Political Access
46.3
Wealth Extraction
60.9
Playing by the Rules
100.0
Score history — 23 quarters
Tier bands show where each quarter's score falls — no numeric y-axis needed. The dashed ring marks the year-over-year comparison point. Tap any quarter but the first to see its pillar breakdown.
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Political Access Grade: 46.28/100. KitchenAid poured $2.23 million into federal lobbying across the two-year period — the worst-performing pillar in the profile. No Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions were recorded, and only $1,000 in individual executive donations to federal campaigns appears in public filings, but the lobbying total alone drags the grade well below the sector average.
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Wealth Extraction Grade: 60.44/100. This grade reflects the CEO-to-worker pay gap inherited from KitchenAid’s parent, Whirlpool Corporation. Because KitchenAid is a wholly owned brand of a publicly traded company, the compensation structure at the top of the corporate pyramid applies here. No stock buyback or dividend data is recorded for KitchenAid as a standalone entity, but the pay ratio alone pulls the grade well below average.
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Playing by the Rules Grade: 100/100. No regulatory fines, no violations, and no public subsidies on the record. A clean slate.
KitchenAid ranks 11th out of 12 companies in the Electronics and appliance retailers sector, with a sector average score of 83.5. At 63.98, KitchenAid trails that industry standard by nearly 20 points — a sign that its sustained lobbying activity places it among the sector’s least accountable actors by this measure. For higher-scoring options in this sector, see the Better Alternatives section below.
The Bottom Line: A Quiet Brand That Found Its Voice in Washington
The lobbying spend remains the sharpest imbalance the data reveals. KitchenAid — a brand that previously had no detectable Washington footprint — channeled $2.23 million into federal lobbying during Q3 2024 through Q2 2026, while its parent company’s CEO collected earnings 450 times that of a typical worker. The regulatory record remains spotless, and PAC spending is zero. But the $2.23 million in lobbying spend is real, it grew substantially through 2025, and no public filing details what specific policy goals it was directed at — leaving the public with a bill and no explanation for it.
$2.2 million in political spending
Two-story house · 12 ft
0.7×
Stacked as $100 bills, KitchenAid's $2.2 million in political spending rises 8 feet — 0.7× the height of a two-story house.
Spending to Buy a Seat at the Table
KitchenAid spent $2,230,000 on federal lobbying from Q3 2024 through Q2 2026, according to Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) filings. That spend was not evenly distributed: 2024 accounted for $370,000, 2025 saw a surge to $1,230,000, and 2026 — with both Q1 ($310,000) and Q2 ($320,000) now in the record — adds another $630,000. The acceleration through mid-2025 — with Q2 and Q4 of that year each hitting $340,000 — suggests a deliberate escalation, not a one-time filing anomaly, and the pace has continued at roughly $315,000 per quarter into 2026.
Federal Lobbying Spend by Quarter
$2.2M total
$190K
Q3 '24
$180K
Q4 '24
$220K
Q1 '25
$340K
Q2 '25
$330K
Q3 '25
$340K
Q4 '25
$310K
Q1 '26
$320K
Q2 '26
What the filings do not reveal is what this money was spent on. No outside lobbying firms appear in the public record, no individual lobbyists are named in the disclosure data, and no issue areas or specific bills are attached to the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) filings. That leaves a gap: $2.23 million in federal influence spending with no public account of the policy terrain it was aimed at. That is the accountability problem the data creates — the dollars are visible, but the agenda behind them is not.
Beyond the lobbying total, the public record shows $1,000 in individual executive donations to federal campaigns — $500 in Q4 2025 and $500 in Q1 2026 — captured in Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. No PAC contributions were filed. At that scale, the personal donations are incidental; the lobbying spend is the story.
The Pay Gap at the Top of the Chain
KitchenAid is a brand, not a standalone public company, which means its executive compensation structure flows from its parent, Whirlpool Corporation. Whirlpool’s CEO pay ratio is 450:1, the 3-year average of Compensation Actually Paid, according to the SEC DEF 14A. For every dollar a typical worker in the Whirlpool organization earned, the person at the top of the company that owns KitchenAid took home $450. The CEO’s three-year average package was about $12.4 million.
No stock buyback or dividend data is recorded for KitchenAid as a distinct reporting entity, so no per-worker raise calculation is possible here. What is visible is the pay structure inherited from the parent — and a 450:1 ratio is not a narrow gap. It is a canyon that sits at the center of KitchenAid’s wealth story whether or not the brand files its own financial disclosures.
Because KitchenAid does not file independently with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the full picture of shareholder returns — buybacks, dividends, and the extent to which those mechanisms may reward Whirlpool insiders — is not publicly disclosed at the brand level. The brand is visible on kitchen counters across America, but the financial mechanics behind it are consolidated into Whirlpool’s books, one layer removed from direct scrutiny under the KitchenAid name.
A Clean Record on the Public Docket
The regulatory record for KitchenAid during Q3 2024 through Q2 2026 is empty. No fines, no violations, and no enforcement actions appear in the public database. Total recorded penalties: zero dollars. Total subsidies collected from government programs: zero dollars.
In a sector where compliance demands around consumer safety, energy labeling, and retail trade practices are routine, a clean docket is not something to take for granted. KitchenAid’s record shows no pattern of treating compliance as optional and no instances of regulators having to step in to enforce the rules. There is no subsidy trail to trace, no tax-credit arrangements, and no government grants on the record.
The 100/100 Playing by the Rules grade is the most straightforward number in this profile: the public record shows nothing to penalize.