40 Facts About Robert Mercer

1.

Robert Leroy Mercer was born on July 11,1946 and is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and political donor.

2.

Robert Mercer played a key role in the campaign for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union by donating data analytics services to Nigel Farage.

3.

Robert Mercer has been a major funder of organizations supporting right-wing political causes in the United States, such as Breitbart News, the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica, and Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for president.

4.

Robert Mercer is the principal benefactor of the Make America Number 1 super PAC.

5.

In November 2017, Robert Mercer announced he would step down from Renaissance Technologies and sell his stake in Breitbart News to his daughters.

6.

Robert Mercer was the majority owner of SCL Group, a self-described "global elections management agency", before it was dissolved in 2018.

7.

In 2021, Robert Mercer was involved in possibly the largest tax settlement in US history, as he, James Simons, and other executives at the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies were ordered to pay as much as $7 billion to the IRS in back taxes.

8.

Robert Mercer developed an early interest in computers and in 1964 attended a National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia where he learned to program a donated IBM computer.

9.

Robert Mercer went on to get a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico.

10.

Robert Mercer later said the experience left him with a "jaundiced view" of government-funded research.

11.

In June 2014, Robert Mercer received the Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award for this work.

12.

In 1993, Robert Mercer joined hedge fund Renaissance Technologies after being recruited by executive Nick Patterson.

13.

In November 2017, Robert Mercer announced that he would be stepping down from his position at Renaissance Technologies.

14.

Robert Mercer appears in the Paradise Papers as a director of eight Bermuda companies, some of which appear to have been used to legally avoid US taxes.

15.

Since 2006, Robert Mercer has donated about $34.9 million to Republican political campaigns in the US.

16.

Robert Mercer has given $750,000 to the Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads, and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund.

17.

Robert Mercer has donated to the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Media Research Center, Reclaim New York, GAI, and Citizens for Self-Governance.

18.

In 2013, Robert Mercer was shown data by former Jimmy Carter pollster Patrick Caddell, who has been critical of top Democrats, and commissioned more research from Caddell that showed "voters were becoming alienated from both political parties and mainstream candidates".

19.

Robert Mercer was the main financial backer of the Jackson Hole Summit, a "shadow" conference that took place in Wyoming in August 2015 to advocate for the gold standard.

20.

Robert Mercer has supported Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, Fred Kelly Grant, a campaign for the death penalty in Nebraska, and funded ads in New York critical of the so-called "ground-zero mosque".

21.

Robert Mercer is a major source of funds of Breitbart News.

22.

Robert Mercer gave at least $10 million to the media outlet, according to Newsweek.

23.

In 2015 Robert Mercer gave $400,000 to Black Americans for a Better Future, a conservative think tank led by Raynard Jackson.

24.

Since 2017 Robert Mercer has donated $87,100 to the same Super PAC.

25.

Robert Mercer was an activist in the campaign for the United Kingdom to end its membership of the European Union, known as Brexit.

26.

EU, said that Robert Mercer donated the services of data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to Nigel Farage, the head of the United Kingdom Independence Party.

27.

Robert Mercer was one of the biggest donors in the 2016 US elections, donating $22.5 million to Republican candidates and PACs.

28.

Robert Mercer was a major financial supporter of the 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz, contributing $11 million to a super PAC associated with the candidate.

29.

Robert Mercer was a major supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for president.

30.

Robert Mercer financed a Super PAC, Make America Number One, which supported Trump's campaign.

31.

Nick Patterson, a former colleague of Robert Mercer's said in 2017 that Trump would not have been elected without Robert Mercer's support.

32.

Robert Mercer has said that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark federal statute arising from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, was a major mistake.

33.

In 2017, David Magerman, a former Renaissance employee, alleged in a lawsuit that Robert Mercer had said that African Americans were economically better off before the civil rights movement, that white racists no longer existed in the United States, and that the only racists remaining were black racists.

34.

Robert Mercer was portrayed by actor Aden Gillett in the 2019 HBO and Channel 4 produced drama entitled Brexit: The Uncivil War.

35.

Robert Mercer plays competitive poker and owns an HO scale model railroad.

36.

In 2009, Robert Mercer filed suit against RailDreams Custom Model Railroad Design, alleging that RailDreams overcharged him by $2 million.

37.

Robert Mercer has commissioned a series of yachts, all named Sea Owl.

38.

In Florida, Robert Mercer built a large stable and horse riding center.

39.

Robert 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.

40.

In 2013, Robert Mercer was sued by several members of his household staff, who accused him of docking their wages and failing to pay overtime compensation.