Beholden means owing a debt of gratitude to somebody. Beholden to him, not beholden to anyone, feel beholden.
It always takes to and it carries an unwelcome weight — being beholden means the obligation constrains you, which is why not beholden to anyone is said with satisfaction. It is used constantly about politicians and their donors. Note that beholden is the old past participle of behold, meaning to look at, and the sense of obligation is not explained by that at all.
1adjectivebeholdenOwing a debt of gratitude to somebody.
“Because the company paid for his campaign, the senator was beholden to it.”
beholden is a state of obligation.
Beholden is the past participle of the Middle English biholden, to behold. How looking at somebody came to mean owing them is not clear, and the verb never carried the sense.
Middle English
biholden — beholden, obligated
English, today
beholden
From Middle English biholden (“beholden, obligated”), past participle of biholden (“to behold, look at”), though that verb does not mean "to bind, obligate".
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA