Mercer began overseeing day-to-day operations of political projects for the Mercer family when the Mercers became involved in conservative causes.[2][4][5][6][7][8] Her father, billionaire Robert Mercer, said in November 2017 that he had sold his stake in the news site Breitbart to his daughters.[9] In August 2018, she funded and co-founded the social networking service Parler.[10][11]
Mercer enrolled at Cornell University and later transferred to Stanford University, where she studied biology and mathematics. In 1999, she earned her master's degree in management science and engineering.[6][13]
Career
She worked as a Wall Street trader at Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund her father helped lead. In 2006, Mercer and her sisters purchased Ruby et Violette, a New York City company[14] that sells cookies and brownies online.[15][4][8] In 2010, she bought six adjoining apartment units in Donald Trump's 41-story Heritage at Trump Place.[16]
The following year, in 2013, Mercer helped start Reclaim New York with Steve Bannon. The organization trains citizens to watch their government closely, and uses freedom of information laws to force the New York government to disclose public spending.[6]
In September 2016, Politico called her "the most powerful woman in GOP politics."[17] She has been more aligned with the anti-establishment part of the Republican Party than most big Republican donors.[6]Newsmax Media owner Christopher Ruddy called her the "First Lady of the Alt-Right".[2]
The Mercers stood behind Trump following release of the Access Hollywood tape was leaked in late 2016, dismissing Trump's claim of grabbing women's genitals against their will[24] as "locker room braggadocio."[25]
People close to the transition said she opposed Corey Lewandowski as RNC chair, noting that Lewandowski had reportedly resisted paying for services from Cambridge Analytica, a data firm funded by the Mercers early in the campaign, though a close associate of Mercer's denied the stories.[27] Lewandowski was not, however, supported for the RNC position and did not obtain it. Paul Manafort, Kellyanne Conway's predecessor as campaign director, who was also said to be critical of Cambridge Analytica, had worked for Ted Cruz and was financially backed by the Mercers.[17] Conway reportedly said that, after Trump's inauguration, the expectation was that Mercer would likely lead an outside group, funded by her father, aimed at bolstering Trump's agenda. It was assumed that Cambridge Analytica would also assist the group's efforts.[15]
The Mercers first introduced Steve Bannon to Donald Trump.[9] Mercer helped create the film Clinton Cash with Bannon, a top political adviser to Trump at the time.[8] She has been one of Bannon's main financial contributors.[28][29]
In late 2017, Bannon told several conservative donors that Mercer had pledged her financial support if he decided to run for president in 2020 against Trump. However, Mercer was frustrated by his comments to the media and disagreed with his public comments in support for Roy Moore, who was under fire for sexual misconduct allegations involving young girls.
In January 2018, a person familiar with conversations between Mercer and Bannon said Mercer would no longer back Bannon financially.[29] Mercer said that she had not spoken to Bannon, the former White House chief strategist in the early months of the Trump administration, in many months but that she continued to support Trump.[13][3]
Mercer and her father, Robert Mercer were key financial benefactors for Breitbart News. Larry Solov, the CEO of Breitbart, said in February 2017 that the Mercers are part-owners of the media outlet.[5] Robert Mercer announced in November 2017 that he had sold his stake in the website to his daughters.[9]
Cambridge Analytica was a privately held data mining and data analysis company with financial backing from the Mercers.[4] The Mercers invested in the company after Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential election.[6] On May 1, 2018, Cambridge Analytica and its parent company filed for insolvency proceedings and closed operations.[30][31]
Alexander Tayler, a former director for Cambridge Analytica, was appointed director of Emerdata on March 28, 2018.[32] Rebekah Mercer, Jennifer Mercer, Alexander Nix and Johnson Chun Shun Ko who has links to Erik Prince are in leadership positions at Emerdata.[33][34]
RAM Veterans Foundation
In May 2022, Mercer was credited with creating RAM Veterans Foundation, named in honor of Robert Alexander Mercer who died in France during World War II. RAM Veterans Foundation is an organization that reviews and recommends veterans charities to donors at CharitiesForVets.com. [35]
In 2018, Mercer co-founded, and funded, the social media website Parler with John Matze Jr. and Jared Thomson. Mercer described herself in a Parler post as having "started Parler" with Matze.[36][10][11]
The Parler board, allegedly controlled by Mercer, fired Parler CEO John Matze on January 29, 2021.[37]
As of early February 2021, Mercer holds the majority shares and, The Washington Post reported "increasingly pulls the strings" at Parler, controlling two-thirds of its board, and appointing other directors.[38]
The Mercer family has contributed $4 million to the American Museum of Natural History, and Rebekah Mercer sat on the museum board of directors from 2013 to 2019.
In 2016, over 250 scientists penned an open letter calling for the museum to "end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation, and to have Rebekah Mercer leave the American Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees."[40]
In January 2018, a protest by the group Revolting Lesbians called for Mercer's removal from the board.[41] The protest followed the release of a letter from over 200 academics and scientists calling for the board to "end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation."[39]
In March 2018, a group called the "Clean Money Project" mounted a spoof campaign aimed at highlighting Mercer's positions on climate change and pressuring the museum to sever ties with her.[42]
By the end of 2019, Mercer was no longer on the board.[43]
Personal life
As a student at Stanford University, Mercer met Sylvain Mirochnikoff, a native of France. The couple married in 2003.[16] Mercer left her trading job to home school her four children.[15][8] As of 2016, Mirochnikoff was a managing director at Morgan Stanley.[6]