Wealthy CEO's are flooding the GOP with contributions to keep the tax cuts coming: study

According to an extensive study reported by Axios, wealthy CEO's are flooding the Republican Party with contributions by an overwhelming margin -- with execs in the energy industry leading the pack.

The report notes the " first of its kind study tracks the political leanings of CEOs by examining 18 years of political contributions by more than 3,800 CEOs of S&P 1500 companies."

What it reveals is that Republicans are on the receiving end of more than twice the support from the executives seeking to influence policy.

"The study, by professors from Harvard Law School and Tel-Aviv University, classifies a CEO as a Republican or a Democrat if they gave at least two-thirds of their campaign contributions to one party or the other. CEOs that distributed their contributions more evenly between the two major parties were classified as neutral," the report states, before toplining, "Among big energy companies, CEOs' Republican leanings are even stronger: more than 9 in 10 energy CEOs side with Republicans and none with Democrats."

The report goes on to point out that a CEO can influence those under them -- as well as the company -- to contribute in a similar fashion before coming to an obvious conclusion.

"CEOs are responsible for maximizing shareholder value, and 'some might argue that support for Republicans is consistent with shareholder interests because share value would benefit from the low-tax and deregulatory policies promoted by Republicans,' according to the study," Axios reports.

You can see the breakdown by industry here at Axios.