2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary receiving millions from former Ted Cruz billionaire donor [View all]jamese777
(546 posts)The firm referenced in the OP is a fairly unique organization, it has co-CEOs. Robert Mercer is indeed one of them. He is politically conservative and a member of the NRA.
But the co-CEO, Peter Brown, is politically liberal and has donated to Planned Parenthood.
http://www.businessinsider.com/bob-mercer-peter-brown-2010-3
The donations from Renaissance Technologies to Hillary Clinton did not come from Robert Mercer as an indvidual, they came from employees of the firm and probably from those who think like Peter Brown, not Robert Mercer.
Peter Brown
NET WORTH: Unknown
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Renaissance Technologies, Co-CEO
FUNDING AREAS: Higher Education, STEM Education, Health
OVERVIEW: Peter F. Brown and his wife Margaret Ann Hamburg channel much of their philanthropy through their Quetzal Trust, which held more than $175 million in assets and gave away more than $7 million in a recent year. The full scope of the couple's giving is unclear, as millions have been pumped into Fidelity Charitable Giving Fund of late, but Brown, a graduate of Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, has been a funder of higher education, STEM education, and health. It's worth noting that Margaret is a prominent physician who recently resigned as FDA commissioner.
BACKGROUND: Peter F. Brown got his B.A. in mathematics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon. Brown was a member of the research staff at IBMs Thomas J. Watson Research Center from 1984 to 1993. In 1993, he joined James Simons' Renaissance Technologies along with IBM coworker Robert Mercer. Now Brown and Mercer serve as co-CEOs of Renaissance. Brown's current net worth is unknown but Forbes magazine estimated that he and Mercer earned about $125 million each in 2011 alone.
ISSUES:
HIGHER EDUCATION: Brown attended Harvard and Margaret attended Radcliffe College, which is now part of Harvard. The Harvard College Fund received $500,000 from the couple in 2011, and more modest sums went to Harvard Medical School. The couple has also supported Yale, Carnegie Mellon, the National Academy of Engineering Fund, and SUNY Stony Brook. SUNY Stony Brook is in close proximity to Renaissance, and James Simons once taught there.
STEM EDUCATION: Given Brown's background, it's no surprise that he's been a steady funder of James Simon's Math for America, a nonprofit whose mission is to improve mathematics education in United States public schools by recruiting, training, and retaining highly qualified secondary school mathematics teachers. Support has also gone to the World Science Festival. Outside of STEM education, Brown and Hamburg have supported Sidwell Friends School, and Choate Rosemary Hall. Like Mercer, Brown has also supported the American Museum of Natural History.
HEALTH: Given Margaret's prominent role in health, the apparent giving in this area hasn't been overwhelming. Recent modest support has gone to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Harvard Medical School.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Quetzal Trust did around $7.1 million in total grantmaking in 2013 and $7 million went to Fidelity Charitable. In 2012, meanwhile, $1 million went to Fidelity Charitable out of a total $3.6 million. As a result, assessing the couple's recent interests is rather difficult. In years prior to 2010, their philanthropy was more transparent, with a dozen or so outfits receiving funds. The couple has shown some interest in more global causes such as supporting Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children.
http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/wall-street-donors/peter-brown.html