P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, a restaurant operator with more than 200 U.S. locations, is one of the companies that received emergency loans under the federal program.
Photo: Michael Wade/Icon SMI/ZUMA PressWASHINGTON—Congress designed the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses weather fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but the program’s $521 billion in loans also went to well-heeled and politically connected firms across the economy, including law offices, charities, restaurant chains and wealth managers.
The Trump administration released the names of borrowers for the first time Monday, following pressure by Congress and others to disclose who received the taxpayer-funded loans.
On the list: Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the law firm headed by antitrust litigator David Boies; Newsmax Media Inc., the media company run by Trump donor Christopher Ruddy; and an Indianapolis service provider to charities part-owned by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc., a restaurant operator with more than 200 U.S. locations, got a loan. So did prominent real-estate investors and wealth managers. Nonprofits receiving funds included the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., whose alumni include children of former presidents, and the foundation that runs the Guggenheim art museum in New York.
The 660,000 companies named accounted for only the largest loans—those worth $150,000 or more. The loans can be forgiven if used largely to retain employees. The loans disclosed Monday represented about 15% of more than 4 million loan participants in the program but about $3 of every $4 distributed.
New York City synagogue Temple Emanu-El received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to data released Monday.
Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty ImagesWhile specific loan amounts weren’t disclosed, many of the best-known recipients took out loans of between $5 million and $10 million, the maximum allowed. All the borrowers may have the loans paid back by taxpayers, as long as they spend at least 60% of the funds on payroll and meet other requirements.
The disclosure appeared likely to add to a continuing debate about whether the program, which distributed money rapidly, helped well-to-do businesses rather than those most in need. Some in Congress want to tighten requirements for receiving future pandemic aid. “Businesses shouldn’t have been taking loans if they didn’t need the money,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.).
In general, the borrowers either didn’t comment or said they took the funds because they qualified and used them to support jobs, as the law requires. P.F. Chang’s said that “as a direct result of receiving the PPP loan, we have been able to keep more than 12,000 team members on the job and most of our restaurants open throughout this crisis.”
Some members of Congress also got loans. Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) owns KTAK Corporation, a Tulsa, Okla.-based operator of fast-food franchises that received between $1 million and $2 million. Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Penn.) received a loan for his car dealerships outside of Pittsburgh. Staffers said the loans supported jobs and the congressmen aren’t involved in day-to-day operations.
The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D., Calif.), Paul Pelosi, is an investor in a Northern California firm that received a loan. Mrs. Pelosi’s spokesman said Mr. Pelosi “was not involved in or even aware of this PPP loan.” A handful of other lawmakers previously disclosed entities that received PPP loans.
An Illinois-based megachurch received the taxpayer money along with a synagogue frequented by Manhattan elite, part of $7.3 billion in loans to religious organizations.
“This critical financial support was paramount to the health of our organization during a time when other revenue streams were disrupted,” the Girl Scouts group said.
A spokesman for the Education Department said Mrs. DeVos has no involvement in her family businesses’ operations while serving as secretary.
The Trump administration published the names alongside an analysis concluding PPP loans were distributed evenly across the country, with low- to moderate-income areas receiving 27% of loans, on par with the 28% of Americans who live there. “Today’s data shows that small businesses of all types and across all industries benefited from this unprecedented program,” Small Business Administration chief Jovita Carranza said.
The administration cited business confidentiality in declining to disclose specific amounts, and instead grouped borrowers into five categories based on loan size. The top tier—those between $5 million and $10 million—included 343 firms in the restaurant industry, which shed 3.1 million jobs from January to June, or 25% of its precrisis payroll.
It also included 168 physician’s offices, 134 engineering firms and 128 law offices. Those sectors shed 5.3%, 3.5% and 4.6% of precrisis payrolls, respectively.
Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., was among the exclusive private schools that received funds through the loan program designed to aid struggling small businesses.
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Besides P.F. Chang’s, restaurant-industry recipients of at least $5 million included Mexican chain Rubio’s Restaurants Inc., California-based Black Angus Steakhouses LLC and Five Guys Enterprises LLC hamburgers.
Restaurant franchises encouraged their brand owners to apply, including Pizza Hut, McDonald’s Corp. and Wendy’s Co. chains. McDonald’s and Wendy’s have recovered much of their U.S. sales since the pandemic hit, while Pizza Hut has experienced historic growth.
Scott Svenson, chief executive of 27-state fast casual chain MOD Super Fast Pizza Holdings LLC, said he agonized over returning the loan of more than $5 million. Shake Shack Inc. and Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc., the owner of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, did so in recent weeks after criticism and threats of criminal penalties.
Mr. Svenson’s firm kept the money. “As CEO, my job is to ensure economic viability of the business,” he said.
The PPP program set a $10 million cap per loan, but the data show some business owners received dozens of loans through various subsidiaries or limited liability companies. For example, one national hospital chain received at least $41 million worth of loans and a Nevada gambling business at least $21 million.
Vibra Healthcare received two dozen loans through different subsidiaries totaling between $41.7 million and $97 million, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The Mechanicsburg, Pa., company, which operates private hospitals and rehabilitation centers in several states, said the loans retained about 4,600 jobs. Vibra didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maverick Gaming LLC and related entities received 20 loans totaling between $21.7 million and $46 million. The company listed a residential address in Las Vegas on its applications, and said the funds allowed it to retain 1,694 jobs. Maverick owns and operates card rooms in Washington state, Nevada and Colorado, according to its website. Its chief executive didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This was supposed to be a small-business program,” said Rebel Cole, a finance professor at Florida Atlantic University who studies small businesses. “They should have never made loans of that size.”
Many companies backed by venture-capital firms received PPP funding including Getaround Inc., backed by SoftBank Group Corp. ’s Vision Fund, and Reputation.com, backed by Kleiner Perkins.
Argos Family Office of St. Louis, which helps manage taxes and wealth for a few very affluent families, and the Family Office Exchange, a membership network for wealthy families and their advisers, each got loans between $350,000 and $1 million.
A number of New York luxury real-estate developers also obtained PPP loans, including a management company linked to Extell Development, builder of two of Manhattan’s tallest and priciest residential towers.
Applicants seeking bigger loans were quick out of the gate when the program began in April, the data show. That month, 92% of the 4,840 loans of $5 million to $10 million were approved, compared with 59% for all loans. After the initial surge, the program saw a steady stream of loans approved for smaller amounts with a moderate uptick at the end of June, a potential indication that demand remains for first-time applicants.
The program, created by Congress in late March, offered forgivable loans to small businesses, generally defined as those with 500 employees or fewer. In an effort to get the funds out quickly, the government effectively used an honor system: If a company was eligible and said economic uncertainty made the loan necessary, the loan was approved by the bank distributing it.
Much remains unknown about the identity of borrowers. Demographic information wasn’t required in the application, and fewer than 11% of applicants disclosed their race or ethnicity.
“Across the board, there are gaping holes and inconsistencies in the information,” said John Arensmeyer, chief executive of advocacy group Small Business Majority. He said many small businesses appear to have received less than the full amounts they had requested, including more than 1,200 companies that received less than $100.
A New York property developed by President Trump’s late father was also among the beneficiaries. Trump Village West, a 1,144-unit housing complex in Coney Island, Brooklyn, named for Fred Trump received a loan between $350,000 and $1 million.
The Trump family sold the property several years ago. Igor Oberman, general manager for Trump Village West, said the complex has no association with Mr. Trump and that it would use the loan to support 30 direct employees of the property.
—Yuka Hayashi, Cezary Podkul, Inti Pacheco, Natalie Andrews, Anthony DeBarros, Caitlin Ostroff, Rolfe Winkler and Will Parker contributed to this article.
Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com, Chad Day at Chad.Day@wsj.com and Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
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