Background

Rebekah Mercer was born on December 6, 1973, in Yorktown Heights, New York. Mercer is the daughter of Diana Lynne (Dean) and billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer; Rebekah is the second of the Mercers' three daughters. Her upbringing in Yorktown Heights, a suburb of New York, has been described as upper-middle class.

Education

Mercer studied biology and mathematics at Stanford University and earned a master's degree in 1999 from Stanford in management science and engineering.

Career

Mercer worked as a Wall Street trader at Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund her father has helped lead, and, with her sisters, owned a gourmet cookie company, Ruby et Violette, which sells cookies online.

Mercer first became widely known in conservative circles in 2012 after Mitt Romney's defeat in the presidential election. She spoke to several wealthy conservative donors at New York's University Club about what the GOP had done wrong as far as canvassing and technology operations during the election cycle.

Mercer helped start Reclaim New York with Steve Bannon in 2013. 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.

A September 2016 Politico headline called her "the most powerful woman in GOP politics." She has been more aligned with the anti-establishment part of the GOP than most other big Republican donors, and the Washington Post reported she's been referred to as the "First Lady of the Alt-Right."

Mercer supported Mitt Romney in 2012 and Ted Cruz for the 2016 presidential election. After Trump won the GOP nomination, she and her father switched their support to him. Mercer supported Jeff Sessions for Secretary of State over Mitt Romney.

Mercer, along with her father, contributed $25 million to the 2016 Presidential election. During the 2016 U.S. presidential primaries, Mercer led Keep the Promise I, a Super PAC (political action committee) which was the largest outside benefactor of Ted Cruz.

In June 2016 after Trump won the primary, Mercer created the Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC, and ran the daily operations. The PAC was incorporated with the name Make America Number 1 at the Federal Election Commission and supported Donald Trump in the general election including making anti-Clinton ads.

During the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Mercer proposed creating a searchable database for Hillary Clinton's e-mails in the public domain and then forwarded this suggestion to several people, including Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix, who e-mailed a request to Julian Assange for Clinton's emails. Assange responded to the report by saying he denied Nix's request. Mercer worked with Steve Bannon to create the film Clinton Cash. She has consulted extensively with former Democratic strategist and pollster Patrick Caddell on campaigns.

The Mercers stood behind Trump after the famous Access Hollywood tape was leaked in late 2016, dismissing Trump's claim of grabbing women's genitals against their will as "locker room braggadocio."

Although initially a supporter of Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential election, Mercer aimed her support at GOP candidate Donald Trump in June 2016 after Cruz lost the primary. Mercer directs the Mercer Family Foundation and served on the Executive Committee of the transition team of United States President-elect Donald Trump.

In the Trump transition, Mercer helped in successfully lobbying against Mitt Romney as secretary of state and for Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general. People close to the transition said she had not favored Corey Lewandowski as possible Republican National Committee chair and that Lewandowski had reportedly resisted paying for services from data firm Cambridge Analytica–a company funded by the Mercers–early in the campaign, though a close associate of Mercer's denied the stories. Paul Manafort, Kellyanne Conway's predecessor as campaign director, was also said to be critical of Cambridge Analytica, which had worked for Ted Cruz and was financially backed by the Mercers. Conway reportedly said that after the inauguration, the expectation was that Mercer was likely to 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.

Achievements

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  Rebekah Mercer is a warrior and a patriot. She and her father, Bob, have invested generously in helping fuel a political revolution. Their approach is multi­faceted. From think tanks to public-policy organizations to online media to path-breaking data analytics, Bekah has helped transform the world of politics. She understands the populist frustration with the bipartisan corruption in Washington, and she is one of the strongest champions of draining the swamp.
  
  When Donald Trump won the nomination, Bekah played a pivotal role in helping assemble the team and strategy that shocked the world in November.
  
  She was honored as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2017.

Politics

On February 14, 2018, Mercer wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal to explain to the public what she believes. She wrote, "I don’t seek attention for myself and much prefer to keep a low profile. But my natural reluctance to speak with reporters has left me vulnerable to the media’s sensational fantasies. Some have recklessly described me as supporting toxic ideologies such as racism and anti-Semitism. More recently I have been accused of being 'anti-science.' These absurd smears have inspired a few gullible, but vicious, characters to make credible death threats against my family and me."

Mercer outlined the following beliefs in her op-ed:

Mercer on equality and fairness: "I believe in a kind and generous United States, where the hungry are fed, the sick are cared for, and the homeless are sheltered. All American citizens deserve equality and fairness before the law. All people should be treated with dignity and compassion. I support a United States that welcomes immigrants and refugees to apply for entry and ultimately citizenship. I reject as venomous and ignorant any discrimination based on race, gender, creed, ethnicity or sexual orientation."

Mercer on federalism: "As a federalist, I believe that power should be decentralized, with those wielding it closely accountable to the people they serve. There is obviously a role for the federal government. But I support a framework within which citizens from smaller political entities—states, counties, cities, towns and so on—can determine the majority of the laws that will govern them. Society’s problems will never be solved by expensive, ineffective and inflexible federal programs."

Mercer on research and the scientific method: "I am deeply committed to research and the scientific method. I have degrees from Stanford in biology, mathematics, and operations research and engineering economic systems. I believe that genuine scientific discovery flourishes only in an atmosphere of dispassionate, open-minded inquiry, with research evaluated according to neutral, evidence-based criteria. I oppose politicized science, in which researchers cannot study certain subjects—or even ask certain questions—for fear of career-ending backlash and persecution."

Mercer on supporting Trump: "I supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign because he promised to tackle entrenched corruption on both sides of the aisle. I continue to support President Trump, which does not mean I agree with every position he has taken or every thought he has tweeted. I remain hopeful that he will continue striving to fulfill his campaign promises."

Mercer on Breitbart News and Steve Bannon: "I own a minority stake in Breitbart News (where I have no editorial authority) because I believe it adds an important journalistic voice to the American conversation. Stephen Bannon, its former chairman, took Breitbart in the wrong direction. Now that Mr. Bannon has resigned, Breitbart has the opportunity to refine its message and expand its influence."

Mercer on open discourse: "This country was founded on the principle of open discourse. Intellectual diversity and vigorous, reasoned debate have been fundamental to America’s success, making us the freest, most prosperous and most innovative society in human history. But we have lost our way. As my family and I know firsthand, America is now a society that threatens, pillories, and harms those who dare to question the status quo. But questioning the status quo is more important now than ever. America’s future depends on it."

Membership

Mercer is on the board of directors of the following organizations: Heritage Foundation, Reclaim New York, Media Research Center, The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, The Moving Picture Institute and The American Museum of Natural History.

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  Heritage Foundation

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  Reclaim New York

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  Media Research Center

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  The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation

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  The Moving Picture Institute

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  The American Museum of Natural History

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Eye colour - hazel brown

Hair color - brown

Quotes from others about the person

• The Hill noted, "Little has been written about the Mercers because they avoid the public spotlight."

Interests

• Politicians

  Donald Trump, Steve Bannon

Connections

According to Bloomberg, Mercer and her husband live in an Upper West Side Manhattan apartment that cost them $28 million. Rebekah Mercer studied at Stanford University where she met Sylvain Mirochnikoff. The couple married in 2003. In 2010, it was reported that they had bought six adjoining apartment units in Donald Trump's 41-story Heritage at Trump Place. Mercer left her trading job to home-school the couple's four children. In 2016, Mirochnikoff, a native of France, was a managing director at Morgan Stanley. In 2017, it was reported that the couple were divorcing.

Father:

Robert Mercer

(born July 11, 1946)

He is an American computer scientist, who was a developer in early artificial intelligence and co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund.

Mother:

Diana Mercer

Spouse:

Sylvain Mirochnikoff

(married 2003)

Sister:

Jennifer Mercer

Sister:

Heather Sue

president:

Donald Trump

(born June 14, 1946)

He is the 45th and current President of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.

References

• Time Magazine (May 1, 2017/May 8, 2017) The 100 Most Influential People