How Armstrong’s Foundation Benefited Him

Bradley C Bower/Associated Press

Lance Armstrong, greeting his fellow cyclists before a Livestrong Challenge ride to fight cancer in 2010. Through a deal with a media company, his foundation relinquished the exclusive rights to the Livestrong name, which was also used by a health and fitness Web site.

After Lance Armstrong was successfully treated for testicular cancer more than 15 years ago, his sports agent predicted that the rising cycling star, then in his 20s, would be more marketable than ever.

Ben Sklar for The New York Times

Doug Ulman, the executive director of Livestrong, contended that the foundation's lobbying efforts were related to cancer and that any mention of the antidoping agency's investigation was incidental.

"Lance isn't just a cyclist anymore," the agent, Bill Stapleton, told The Austin American-Statesman in 1997. "Because of the cancer, the Lance Armstrong brand has a much broader appeal. Our challenge is to leverage that now. He's on the verge of being a crossover-type spokesman."

That year, Mr. Stapleton helped Mr. Armstrong form his foundation to assist cancer patients. Alongside Mr. Armstrong's fame, the foundation, now known as Livestrong, grew into one of the nation's largest cancer charities, the nonprofit arm of a multimillion-dollar conglomerate that the two men would cultivate over the next 15 years.

Now, the fates of Mr. Armstrong and the foundation are again linked as both try to rebound from a doping scandal that led to Mr. Armstrong's ignominious fall. Friends and associates have said that Mr. Armstrong will admit to using performance-enhancing drugs when he sits down Monday for a taped interview with Oprah Winfrey. The confession, they said, is part of a bid by Mr. Armstrong to resume his athletic career and rehabilitate the reputation that helped build the charity and the rest of his financial empire.

An examination of Livestrong shows the degree to which the charity, Mr. Armstrong's business interests and those of his associates have long been intertwined.

While Mr. Armstrong's celebrity fed the charity, the charity also enhanced his marketability. Livestrong also engaged in some deals that appeared to have benefited him and his associates, according to interviews and financial records.

In one case, the charity sold the rights to its iconic Livestrong name to a commercial media company that also hired Mr. Armstrong as a spokesman.

"There was a conflict. I felt there was," said Doug Kingsriter, a former Livestrong development officer. "And of course we run into this with nonprofits. Personal interests, personal agendas, should not be greater than the interest of the mission of the organization."

As Mr. Stapleton predicted, Mr. Armstrong became a crossover celebrity, gaining endorsement deals with a variety of companies. Many of those companies donated to the foundation, burnishing their images through association with a good cause.

Mr. Stapleton's company, Capital Sports & Entertainment, of which Mr. Armstrong was the key client and a minority shareholder, earned fees from the foundation, beginning in 2010, based on the partnerships it generated. In three years, those fees amounted to $423,000.

On his company's Web site, Mr. Stapleton is identified as the chief management officer of the Livestrong brand at the foundation. The foundation distinguished itself by emphasizing survivorship, providing programs and services aimed at easing the personal and practical hardships that come with cancer. Millions of people wore the yellow Livestrong wristbands that became the organization's trademark and a rallying point for cancer awareness.

As the doping allegations mounted, the foundation's popularity became part of Mr. Armstrong's defense. His lawyers invoked his charity as he fought the United States Anti-Doping Agency, known as Usada, whose October report disclosed overwhelming evidence that Mr. Armstrong had doped during most of his career and had supplied performance-enhancing drugs to his teammates. Usada also accused both Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Stapleton of lying under oath in an effort to cover up Mr. Armstrong's use of the drugs.

Last summer, the charity also ran interference when its executive director, Doug Ulman, issued statements raising questions about the integrity of Usada's investigation. Livestrong also hired Washington lobbyists from Patton Boggs, the firm representing Mr. Armstrong in the doping case.

Livestrong's stated purpose in visiting Capitol Hill lawmakers, according to lobbying records, included "issues related to support for the foundation's activities." But a spokesman for Representative José E. Serrano later said that the Usada investigation was the primary focus of the discussions.

Mr. Ulman said that the lobbying was related to issues linked to cancer and that any discussion of the antidoping agency came up only in passing. To avoid conflicts of interest in the foundation's overall business, he said, its executive committee screened all of its partnerships, and a top lawyer who specializes in nonprofits monitored the integrity of its deals.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 13, 2013

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the period of time over which Capital Sports & Entertainment, the company headed by Armstrong's agent, earned $423,000 in fees from Livestrong, based on the partnerships the firm generated. Capital Sports made that amount in fees over three years, not two.

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