Robert Mercer
Born 1946 · Age 79
American computer scientist, former co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, early AI researcher and prominent political donor (Breitbart, Cambridge Analytica, Make America Number One).
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Life & Career Timeline
Attended National Youth Science Camp; learned to program
Attended National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia and learned to program on a donated IBM computer; early spark of interest in computers.
Completed BS in physics and mathematics (University of New Mexico)
Earned bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico (year inferred from subsequent PhD timing; source states he holds the degree).
Earned Ph.D. in computer science (University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign)
Completed doctoral studies in computer science; dissertation and training prepared him for IBM Research work in statistical language processing.
Contributed to Brown clustering and IBM alignment models
Early work in statistical machine translation and speech recognition that later earned broad recognition in computational linguistics.
Joined IBM Research (Thomas J. Watson Research Center)
Joined IBM Research in Yorktown, NY; worked on statistical machine translation, speech recognition, Brown clustering and IBM alignment models under Frederick Jelinek and Lalit Bahl.
Joined Renaissance Technologies
Recruited to Renaissance Technologies by Nick Patterson (months after parents died); transitioned from academic/IBM research to quantitative finance.
Began applying data-science methods to political/data ventures (early seeds)
Period when Mercer began to explore applying his data-analysis expertise beyond finance (inferred from later Cambridge Analytica activities).
Daughter Heather's Title IX suit against Duke (1990s)
Reported that in the 1990s Mercer's daughter Heather sued Duke University under Title IX and won $2 million (exact year in the 1990s not specified in source).
Filed lawsuit over custom model railroad (RailDreams)
Filed suit alleging he was overcharged by RailDreams for a model railroad (reported lawsuit in 2009).
Became co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies
When founder James Simons retired, Mercer and former IBM colleague Peter Brown became co-CEOs of Renaissance (Wikipedia cites 2009 retirement/transition).
Started major political super-PAC donations era (post-Citizens United)
After the Citizens United decision, Mercer began making large super-PAC donations; family built their own donor network and Mercer Family Foundation expanded political giving.
Invested in Breitbart News
Reportedly invested at least $10 million in Breitbart News (sources report a ~2011 investment, later cited as large funding source for Breitbart).
Household staff sued Mercer (wage/overtime claims); lawsuit settled
In 2013, several members of his household staff sued, alleging wage docking and unpaid overtime; the lawsuit was later settled.
Mercer Family Foundation large grants reported (2013 filings)
Foundation activities and grants to conservative groups highlighted; Mercer family actively funding conservative think tanks and causes.
Invested in Cambridge Analytica (approx.)
Mercer family invested in data firm Cambridge Analytica; various reports cite approximate investment of $5 million (date not precisely specified; 2013–2014 commonly reported).
Senate panel estimated Medallion tax underpayment
2014 bipartisan Senate panel estimated Medallion investors underpaid taxes by around $6.8 billion over more than a decade (impacting Renaissance's tax scrutiny).
Mercer Family Foundation donated $250,000 to Berkeley Earth (per 2014 filing)
2014 tax filing listed a $250,000 donation to Berkeley Earth (Richard Muller's project).
Renaissance Technologies managed ~$25B in assets (reported)
Public reporting listed Renaissance managing approximately $25 billion in assets in 2014; Medallion fund historically produced high returns.
Received ACL Lifetime Achievement Award
Received Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award for his early work in statistical machine translation and clustering.
Large donations to conservative groups (published totals)
Reported donations include $750,000 to Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads, and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund (aggregate timing reported in profiles; specific years not always stated).
Called one of the ten most influential billionaires in politics
The Washington Post (2015) named Mercer among the ten most influential billionaires in politics.
Backed Jackson Hole Summit (gold-standard conference)
Served as main financial backer of the private 'Jackson Hole Summit' in August 2015 that advocated the gold standard.
Gave $11M to Ted Cruz super PAC (Keep the Promise / Keep the Promise I)
Financial support to Cruz: reported $11 million to the super PAC associated with Cruz (Keep the Promise I), which was later repurposed to support Trump as Make America Number One.
Make America Number One super PAC funded (revamp of Keep the Promise I)
Mercer financed Make America Number One (formerly Keep the Promise I) which ultimately supported Trump and financed projects attacking Hillary Clinton.
Mercer family influence installs allies in Trump campaign
Mercer and daughter Rebekah helped obtain senior roles for Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway in the Trump campaign; Cambridge Analytica data team also worked for campaign.
Connected to Brexit campaign influence via data firms
Mercer's political data connections allegedly aided Leave campaigns (reports that Cambridge Analytica/AggregateIQ were involved in targeted advertising during the Brexit referendum).
Cambridge Analytica / data-targeting used in Trump campaign
Cambridge Analytica, backed by Mercer investment, worked on the Trump campaign using psychographic targeting and Facebook data (later scandalized).
Reportedly third-biggest donor to conservative outside-spending groups (2016)
Profiles indicated Mercer was one of the top individual donors in the 2016 election cycle (behind Adelson and Paul Singer in some lists).
Major donor in 2016 U.S. election cycle
Reported as one of the biggest donors in 2016, donating around $22.5 million to Republican candidates and PACs that year; also backed Ted Cruz (initially) and later Trump.
Brexit referendum involvement; AggregateIQ/£3.9M
Mercer's data-analytics connections were implicated in UK Brexit campaigning; reports state £3.9 million was spent on AggregateIQ (his affiliated company) supporting Dominic Cummings/Leave campaigns.
Public letter to Renaissance staff distancing from allegations
On Nov 2, 2017 Mercer wrote to staff denying charges that he was a white supremacist and explaining reasons for selling his Breitbart stake and stepping down.
Attended Heartland Institute climate conference (ICCC12)
Robert and Rebekah Mercer attended the Heartland Institute's Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change in Washington, D.C.; they listened to climate-skeptic talks.
Donated $150,000 to 'Massachusetts First' super PAC
FEC data showed a $150,000 contribution to Massachusetts First, which ran radio ads targeting Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Named as director of eight Bermuda companies in Paradise Papers
Paradise Papers revealed Mercer as director of eight Bermuda companies that appear to have been used to reduce US tax liabilities for the Mercer Family Foundation and related investments.
Announced stepping down from Renaissance and selling Breitbart stake
Announced he'd step down as co-CEO of Renaissance (effective Jan 1, 2018) and sell his stake in Breitbart News to his daughters amid backlash over political activism.
SCL Group / Cambridge Analytica fallout; companies dissolve or crippled
Following Cambridge Analytica data-harvesting revelations and Facebook ban, SCL Group and Cambridge Analytica's UK arm were effectively crippled and SCL dissolved in 2018; Mercers were majority backers.
Rebekah Mercer visited Facebook to mend relations after Cambridge Analytica scandal
Reports that Rebekah Mercer tried to repair relations between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica as scandal unfolded; Facebook ultimately banned CA.
Portrayed in HBO/Channel 4 drama 'Brexit: The Uncivil War'
Robert Mercer was depicted by actor Aden Gillett in the dramatization of the Brexit campaign (series released 2019).
Mercer family 'dark money' donations to DonorsTrust tracked (~$20M)
A 2021 investigation found Robert and Rebekah Mercer tracked nearly $20 million through DonorsTrust in support of GOP causes in 2020 (reported Sept 2021).
Reported continued financial backing of Parler and other conservative tech/media projects
Mercer/Rebekah were implicated in financing or advising alternative social media (Parler) and other conservative platforms (support traced back to ~2018 onward).
Legal and reputational fallout from political data firms continued
After Cambridge Analytica and SCL controversies, regulatory and press scrutiny of Mercer family's political data ventures remained through 2021.
Ordered to help settle tax probe at Renaissance — up to $7 billion
James Simons, Robert Mercer and other executives at Renaissance were ordered to pay as much as $7 billion to the IRS in back taxes as part of a settlement/probe reported in 2021.
Mercer family donated to Protect Ohio Values / JD Vance support (reported involvement)
Mercer's family donated an undisclosed amount to the super PAC Protect Ohio Values to support JD Vance's 2022 Senate bid (reports from 2021–2022 mention Mercer family involvement).
Public profiles continued to list Mercer as a major conservative donor
Media continued to report Mercer's decades-long funding of conservative think tanks (Heartland, Heritage, Manhattan Institute, Cato) and climate-skeptic groups.
Public estimates: Mercer frequently described as billionaire/hundreds of millions
Various outlets have alternately described Mercer's net worth as 'hundreds of millions' or as a billionaire; precise private net worth remains opaque.
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