Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Matt Drange is an investigative reporter at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). He previously reported for Business Insider, Forbes magazine and the Center for Investigative Reporting, among others. Matt’s reporting on educator sexual misconduct prompted the passage of a 2025 California law to better protect students, as well as numerous resignations, civil lawsuits, and criminal probes. His reporting on nondisclosure agreements in the tech industry, meanwhile, spurred corporate and regulatory change, and served as a springboard for the documentary, My NDA. Matt has often focused on issues revolving around money and power, with his stories sparking Congressional inquiries, state investigations, and dropped contracts by local governments. With a colleague, he broke the story in 2016 that billionaire investor Peter Thiel had secretly bankrolled a crippling invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media. Matt’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades, including a Free Speech & Open Government Award from the First Amendment Coalition, a Sidney Award from the Hillman Foundation and multiple Best in Business awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing & Writing (SABEW). In 2019, he was named by SABEW as the “Best Young Business Journalist” in the United States, and in 2024 was a finalist for the Livingston Award for National Reporting. Matt sits on SABEW’s First Amendment Committee and is a longtime member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). He graduated from Humboldt State University and holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School. Matt teaches investigative reporting at Laney College in Oakland, California.
