While Al Sharpton arguably holds the strings to the African-American community, able to rally groups at will, he's also being accused of pulling on purse strings of big businesses.

According to the New York Post, almost 50 companies have given Sharpton money -- including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase -- and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton's National Action Network annual conference in April.

Anheuser-Busch gave him six figures, Colgate-Palmolive handed over $50,000 and Macy's and Pfizer have contributed thousands to Sharpton's charity.

"I think this is quite clearly a shakedown operation," said Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center in Virginia, a conservative corporate watchdog. "He's good at harassing people and making noise. CEOs give him his way because it is a lot easier than confronting him."

The supposed shakedown, goes like this: Sharpton allegedly accuses a company who is currently not contributing to his organization of wrongdoing. Soon after, the company begins to contribute cash and the allegations of racism go away.

It seems to have worked with General Motors.

According to a G.M. spokesperson, Sharpton had tried to hit the company up for money every year since 2000, unsuccessfully. But in '06 when the Rev. threatened to boycott the company, GM ponied up a $5,000 donation to NAN, calling it a "worthy" organization. It gave $5,000 more this year.

And DaimlerChrysler.

In November of '03 Sharpton boycotted the car company's Chicago car show, citing "institutional racism." Not a year later, Sharpton was honoring that same company with an award for corporate excellence at a Martin Luther King, Jr. black tie banquet.

As well as American Honda.

In 2003, Sharpton accused the carmaker of not hiring enough black employees. Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the company began to sponsor NAN's events - and continues to pay "a modest amount" each year, a spokesman said.

The National Action Network is currently under scrutiny by the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn which has been conducting a grand-jury investigation of the organization's finances.