The Kobo NOligarchy Profile
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Kobo earns a NOligarchy Score of 89.2 out of 100 — covering Q3 2024 through Q2 2026 (8 quarters — the two-year tracking period). No lobbying, Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, executive political donations, stock buyback, fine, or subsidy records have been matched to Kobo across any of the sources this project tracks. That reflects the current state of available public records, not a confirmed finding of compliance or spending in either direction.
Current Pillar Scores
Political Access
100.0
Wealth Extraction
68.9
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: 100/100. No federal lobbying expenditure, no PAC dollars, and no executive political donations have been matched to Kobo in the public record across the two-year period.
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Wealth Extraction Grade: 69.15/100. No stock buyback or dividend data has been matched to this company. An industry-estimated CEO pay ratio of 115:1 is the only available figure — a sector benchmark, not a number drawn from Kobo’s own filings.
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Playing by the Rules Grade: 100/100. No regulatory fines, penalties, or government subsidies have been matched to Kobo in the public record for this period.
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Sector Context: Kobo ranks 10th out of 15 in the Book Retailers and News Dealers sector, where the sector average score is 83.5. At 89.2, Kobo sits above that benchmark — above the sector average in a field that includes companies scoring as low as 21.1.
The Bottom Line: Public Records Have Not Yet Caught Up with This Company
No lobbying filings, PAC contributions, executive political donations, CEO pay disclosures, stock buyback records, regulatory fines, or government subsidies have been matched to Kobo across the tracked sources for the period from Q3 2024 through Q2 2026. That may mean Kobo genuinely has no activity in those categories to report — or it may mean that matching records exist under a different entity name and have not yet been linked to this company in the available databases. The score and grades above reflect what is visible in the public record today, not a verified finding in either direction.
Outside Current Tracking Coverage
Across Q3 2024 through Q2 2026, no federal lobbying filings, no PAC contributions, and no executive political donations have been matched to Kobo in the Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) database or Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. That may mean the company genuinely had no federal political presence during this period — or it may mean that relevant filings exist under a different corporate name or subsidiary and have not yet been connected to Kobo in the current matching of public records.
EXHIBIT — THE RESERVED SEAT
$0 in lobbying · $0 in PAC money
Kobo filed no federal lobbying and ran no corporate PAC in this window — the reserved seat at the witness table sits empty.
No Matched Records on Pay or Payouts
No stock buyback or dividend data has been matched to Kobo across the tracked sources for this period. The internal financial decisions shaping how Kobo allocates earnings between executives, workers, and owners are not visible in any public filing currently linked to this company, which means no shareholder payout total can be weighed against worker compensation and no per-worker raise calculation is possible.
Kobo’s CEO pay ratio is not publicly disclosed. As a foreign private company, it faces no requirement to report one. The best available figure is 115:1, based on AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch industry benchmarks for comparable companies in this sector. Put plainly: for every dollar a typical worker in this sector earns, the person running a comparable company is estimated to take home $115. That is a benchmark drawn from industry peers, not a number verified against Kobo’s own books, and the real figure could be higher or lower. Because no disclosure requirement exists, there is no mechanism for workers or the public to find out.
No Matched Enforcement or Subsidy Records
No regulatory fines, penalties, or enforcement actions have been matched to Kobo across the tracked sources for Q3 2024 through Q2 2026. No government grants, tax credits, or economic development deals have been matched either. Whether this reflects a genuine absence of enforcement activity or a gap in the current linking of public records to this company is not determinable from the data available today.