Robert Mercer (businessman)

Robert Mercer
Born (1946-07-11) July 11, 1946
San Jose, California, United States
Residence Long Island, New York, United States
Nationality American
Alma mater University of New Mexico (BS)
University of Illinois (PhD)
Occupation Hedge fund manager
Spouse(s) Diana Mercer
Children Rebekah Mercer, Jennifer, Heather Sue

Robert Mercer (born July 11, 1946)[1] is an American computer scientist and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund.[1][2] He is a major donor to conservative political causes.[3] Mercer has donated to Super PACs affiliated with Freedom Partners, Club for Growth Action, and John R. Bolton.[1][3]

Mercer grew up in New Mexico and holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico.[1] He joined Renaissance in 1993 after being recruited by Renaissance founder James Harris Simons.[4] Mercer previously worked at IBM, where he developed speech recognition programs, and received a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois.[5][6] In June 2014, he received the Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award.[7] As of 2014, Renaissance manages $25 billion.[1]

Business activity

Mercer is the co-chief executive officer of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund.[3] He was hired by Renaissance in 1993 from IBM along with several other IBM colleagues. Mercer and a colleague from IBM, Peter Brown, became co-CEOs of the company when founder James Simons retired in 2009.[3] Renaissance's main fund, Medallion, earned 39 percent per year on average between 1989 and 2006.[3]

Political activity

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, and Cambridge Analytica.[3][3]

In 2015, the Washington Post called Mercer one of the ten most influential billionaires in politics.[8] Mercer is a major financial supporter of the 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz,[9] contributing $11 million to a super PAC associated with the candidate.[10] Reporter Zachary Mider, writing for Bloomberg in January 2016, called Mercer "the biggest single donor" in the 2016 U.S. presidential race.[3]

Mercer has given $750,000 to the Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads,[11] and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund.[12] In 2010, Mercer financially supported Art Robinson's efforts to unseat Peter DeFazio in Oregon's 4th congressional district.[13] In the 2013-2014 election cycle, Mercer donated the fourth largest amount of money among individual donors, and the second most among Republican donors.[1] The Mercer Family Foundation, run by Mercer's daughter, Rebekah, has also donated to a variety of conservative causes.[1]

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.[3] He has also supported Doctors for Disaster Preparedness and Fred Kelly Grant, an Idaho activist who encourages legal challenges to environmental laws.[3] 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".[3] 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.[3]

Family

Robert 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.[14] The three Mercer daughters own a bakery called Ruby et Violette.[9][15]

Personal life

Mercer plays competitive poker[16] and owns an HO scale model railroad (which cost about $2.7 million, according to the lawsuit brought by Mercer against its designer).[3] In 2009, Mercer filed suit against RailDreams Custom Model Railroad Design, alleging that RailDreams overcharged him by $2 million.[17] 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.[2] That lawsuit has been "resolved amicably", according to an attorney who represented members of his household staff.[9]

Mercer lives at "Owl's Nest" mansion in Head of the Harbor, New York.[2][3] 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.[3] In Florida, Mercer built a large stable and riding center.[3] 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.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Delevigne, Lawrence (8 Nov 2014). "Have Mercer! The money man who helped the GOP win". CNBC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Smythe, Christie (July 17, 2013). "Renaissance Co-CEO Mercer Sued by Home Staff for Over Pay". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Mider, Zachary (20 January 2016). "What Kind of Man Spends Millions to Elect Ted Cruz?". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers". Forbes. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Patterson, Scott. "Pioneering Fund Stages Second Act". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Mallaby, Sebastian (2011). More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0143119418.
  7. ↑ "Robert L. Mercer receives the 2014 ACL Lifetime Achievement Award". aclweb.org. ACL. Retrieved August 16, 2014.video
  8. ↑ Phillips, Amber (21 September 2015). "The 10 most influential billionaires in politics". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 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
  10. ↑ Lichtblau, Eric (July 31, 2015). "'Super PACs' Spent Millions Before Candidates Announced, Filings Show". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Yang, Jia Lynn (October 11, 2013). "Here's who pays the bills for Ted Cruz's crusade". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ Vogel, Kenneth (October 14, 2014). "Koch donors uncloaked". Politico. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  13. ↑ Mapes, Jeff (October 16, 2010). "Wealthy financier is mysterious funder of ads attacking DeFazio". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Heather Sue Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ Ferretti, Elena (December 15, 2009). "Cooking Up a New Cookie Company". FoxNews.com.
  16. ↑ "Robert Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ Marzulli, John (March 31, 2009). "Hedge fund hotshot Robert Mercer files lawsuit over $2M model train, accusing builder of overcharge". Daily News (New York). Retrieved October 11, 2013.
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