Robert Mercer (businessman)

Robert Mercer
Born 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

Robert Mercer (born July 11, 1946) is an American computer scientist and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund.[1][2]

Mercer grew up in New Mexico and holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.[2] He joined Renaissance in 1993 after being recruited by Renaissance founder James Harris Simons. Mercer previously worked at IBM, where he developed speech recognition programs, and received a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois.[3][4] In June 2014, he received the Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award.[5] As of 2014, Renaissance manages $25 billion.[2]

Mercer is also a major donor to conservative causes and Republican political campaigns. Mercer has given $750,000 to The Club for Growth, $2 million to American Crossroads,[6] and $2.5 million to Freedom Partners Action Fund, a group run by the Koch Brothers.[7] Mercer has also spent money supporting Art Robinson's efforts to unseat Congressman Peter DeFazio in Oregon's 4th Congressional District.[8] In the 2013-2014 election cycle, Mercer donated the fourth most money among individual donors, and the second most among Republican donors (after Paul Singer).[2] Mercer's family foundation, run by his daughter, Rebekah, has also donated to numerous conservative causes.[2] Mercer is a major financial supporter of the 2016 Presidential campaign of Ted Cruz.[9]

Mercer plays competitive poker[10] and owns an HO scale model railroad. In 2009, Mercer filed suit against RailDreams Custom Model Railroad Design, alleging that RailDreams overcharged him by $2 million.[11] In 2013, Mercer was sued by his household staff, who accused him of improperly cutting their pay.[1] That lawsuit has been "resolved amicably", according to an attorney who represented members of his household staff. [9]

Mercer lives in Head of the Harbor, New York.[1]

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.[12] The three daughters took ownership of the Ruby et Violette cookie shop in Hell's Kitchen in 2009.[13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Smythe, Christie (July 17, 2013). "Renaissance Co-CEO Mercer Sued by Home Staff for Over Pay". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Delevigne, Lawrence. "Have Mercer! The money man who helped the GOP win". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Patterson, Scott. "Pioneering Fund Stages Second Act". Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Mallaby, Sebastian (2011). More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0143119418.
  5. ↑ "Robert L. Mercer receives the 2014 ACL Lifetime Achievement Award". aclweb.org. ACL. Retrieved August 16, 2014.video
  6. ↑ Yang, Jia Lynn (October 11, 2013). "Here's who pays the bills for Ted Cruz's crusade". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=465AB626-A4C2-41F6-8790-0A41197593F4
  8. ↑ Mapes, Jeff (October 16, 2010). "Wealthy financier is mysterious funder of ads attacking DeFazio". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 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. ↑ "Robert Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Heather Sue Mercer". HendonMob Poker Database. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ Ferretti, Elena (December 15, 2009). "Cooking Up a New Cookie Company". FoxNews.com.