Robert Mercer
Robert Mercer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Leroy Mercer July 11, 1946 San Jose, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of New Mexico (BS) University of Illinois (PhD) |
| Occupation | Hedge fund manager |
| Spouse | Diana Lynne (Dean) Mercer[1] |
| Children | Rebekah, Jennifer, Heather Sue |
Robert Leroy Mercer (born July 11, 1946)[2] is an American computer scientist and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund.[2][3] He is a major donor to conservative political causes.[4] Mercer has donated to Super PACs affiliated with Freedom Partners, Club for Growth Action, and John R. Bolton.[2][4] He is the principal benefactor of the Make America Number 1 Super PAC.[5]
Early life and education
Mercer grew up in New Mexico and holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico.[2] He earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1972.[2] Mercer has three daughters with his wife, Diana.[6]
Career
Mercer joined Renaissance Technologies in 1993 after being recruited by Renaissance founder James Harris Simons.[7] Mercer previously worked at IBM, where he developed speech recognition and statistical machine translation programs.[8][9] Mercer and a former colleague from IBM, Peter Brown, became co-CEOs of Renaissance when founder James Simons retired in 2009.[4] Renaissance's main fund, Medallion, earned 39 percent per year on average between 1989 and 2006.[4] As of 2014, Renaissance manages $25 billion in assets.[2]
In June 2014, Mercer received the Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award.[10]
Political activities
In 2015, the Washington Post called Mercer one of the ten most influential billionaires in politics.[11] Mercer was a major financial supporter of the 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz,[12] contributing $11 million to a super PAC associated with the candidate.[13] Reporter Zachary Mider, writing for Bloomberg in January 2016, called Mercer "the biggest single donor" in the 2016 U.S. presidential race.[4]
According to the Center for Responsive Politics Mercer is currently ranked the #1 donor to federal candidates in the 2016 election cycle, ahead of Renaissance founder James Harris Simons who is ranked #5 and generally donates to Democrats.[14] By June, Mercer had donated $13.5 million to Ted Cruz’s super PAC, $2 million to John R. Bolton’s super PAC, and $668,000 directly to the Republican National Committee.[14] Since 2006, Mercer has donated about $34.9 million to federal campaigns.[14] Since 1990, Renaissance Technologies has contributed $59,081,152 to federal campaigns and since 2001, has spent $3,730,000 on lobbying.[15]
Mercer has given $750,000 to the Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads,[16] and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund.[17] In 2010, Mercer financially supported Art Robinson's efforts to unseat Peter DeFazio in Oregon's 4th congressional district.[18] In the 2013-2014 election cycle, Mercer donated the fourth largest amount of money among individual donors, and the second most among Republican donors.[2] Mercer joined the Koch brothers conservative political donor network after the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC, but Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer, decided to establish their own political foundation.[6] The Mercer Family Foundation, run by Mercer's daughter, Rebekah, has donated to a variety of conservative causes.[2]
Mercer is a major supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for president.[19] Mercer and his daughter played a role in the elevation of Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway into senior roles in the Trump campaign.[19][20] Mercer also finances a Super PAC, Make America Number One, which supports Trump's campaign.[20]
Rebekah is one of the members of Donald Trump's Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee.
In addition to the money he has spent on political campaigns, estimated at $32 million as of 2016, Mercer has invested millions of dollars in the Heritage Foundation, the media outlet Breitbart.com, Cambridge Analytica, the Cato Institute, the Media Research Center, and the Government Accountability Institute.[4][20] Mercer was the main financial backer of the Jackson Hole Summit, a conference that took place in Wyoming in August 2015 to advocate for the gold standard.[4] He has also supported Doctors for Disaster Preparedness and Fred Kelly Grant, an Idaho activist who encourages legal challenges to environmental laws.[4] Mercer has supported a campaign for the death penalty in Nebraska and funded ads in New York critical of the so-called "ground-zero mosque".[4] According to associates interviewed by Bloomberg, Mercer is concerned with the monetary and banking systems of the United States, which he believes are in danger from government meddling.[4]
Personal life
Mercer and his wife Diana have three daughters, Jennifer ("Jenji"), Rebekah ("Bekah"), and Heather Sue. Rebekah runs the Mercer Family Foundation. Heather Sue Mercer successfully sued Duke University for Title IX discrimination in 2000, and like her father is a competitive poker player (global ranking 67,182).[21] The three Mercer daughters own a bakery called Ruby et Violette.[12][22]
Mercer plays competitive poker (ranking 62,841 in life winnings)[23] and owns an HO scale model railroad (which cost about $2.7 million, according to the lawsuit brought by Mercer against its designer).[4] In 2009, Mercer filed suit against RailDreams Custom Model Railroad Design, alleging that RailDreams overcharged him by $2 million.[24] In 2013, Mercer was sued by several members of his household staff, who accused him of docking their wages and failing to pay overtime compensation.[3] That lawsuit has been "resolved amicably", according to an attorney who represented members of his household staff.[12]
Mercer lives at "Owl's Nest" mansion in Head of the Harbor, New York.[3][4] Mercer commissioned a series of yachts, all called Sea Owl. The most recent one is 203 feet in length, and has a pirate-themed playroom for Mercer's grandchildren and a chandelier of Venetian glass.[4] In Florida, Mercer built a large stable and riding center.[4] Mercer has acquired one of the country's largest collections of machine guns and historical firearms, including a weapon Arnold Schwarzenegger wielded in The Terminator.[4]
References
- ^ "Brides-To-Be". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. May 25, 1967. p. 13.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Delevigne, Lawrence (8 November 2014). "Have Mercer! The money man who helped the GOP win". CNBC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Smythe, Christie (July 17, 2013). "Renaissance Co-CEO Mercer Sued by Home Staff for Over Pay". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Mider, Zachary (20 January 2016). "What Kind of Man Spends Millions to Elect Ted Cruz?". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ "Keep the Promise I/Make America Number 1 Contributors, 2016 cycle". OpenSecrets. 2016-10. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Vogel, Kenneth; Schrekinger, Ben (7 September 2016). "The most powerful woman in GOP politics". Politico. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ "The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers". Forbes. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Patterson, Scott. "Pioneering Fund Stages Second Act". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ^ Mallaby, Sebastian (2011). More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0143119418.
- ^ "Robert L. Mercer receives the 2014 ACL Lifetime Achievement Award". aclweb.org. ACL. Retrieved August 16, 2014.video
- ^ Phillips, Amber (21 September 2015). "The 10 most influential billionaires in politics". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- ^ a b c Lichtblau, Eric; Stevenson, Alexandra (April 10, 2015), "Hedge-Fund Magnate Robert Mercer Emerges as a Generous Backer of Cruz", New York Times, retrieved April 15, 2015
- ^ Lichtblau, Eric (July 31, 2015). "'Super PACs' Spent Millions Before Candidates Announced, Filings Show". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ a b c Bowers, John (7 June 2016). "A hedge fund house divided: Renaissance Technologies". OpenSecrets Blog. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "Organizations: Renaissance Technologies". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Yang, Jia Lynn (October 11, 2013). "Here's who pays the bills for Ted Cruz's crusade". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ Vogel, Kenneth (October 14, 2014). "Koch donors uncloaked". Politico. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Mapes, Jeff (October 16, 2010). "Wealthy financier is mysterious funder of ads attacking DeFazio". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ a b Swan, Jonathan (17 August 2016). "Billionaire father and daughter linked to Trump shake-up". The Hill. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b c Confessore, Nicholas (18 August 2016). "How One Family's Deep Pockets Helped Reshape Donald Trump's Campaign". New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "Heather Sue Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ Ferretti, Elena (December 15, 2009). "Cooking Up a New Cookie Company". FoxNews.com.
- ^ "Robert Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ Marzulli, John (March 31, 2009). "Hedge fund hotshot Robert Mercer files lawsuit over $2M model train, accusing builder of overcharge". NY Daily News. New York. Retrieved October 11, 2013.