Long-time financier of Breitbart news, Bob Mercer is selling his stake in the media company to his daughters. Additionally, Mercer is also stepping down from his post as co-CEO of the hedge fund he managed.
Since being thrust into the spotlight for bankrolling Breitbart News, Mercer’s hedge fund has been attacked:
Business Insider reported:
Hedge-fund billionaire and major conservative donor Robert Mercer is stepping down from his position as co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, he said Thursday.In a letter to employees obtained by Business Insider, Mercer said he had become an object of press scrutiny in the past year, referencing his activity as a major conservative donor. The hedge-fund founder had previously stayed mum about his political beliefs.”During the past year, I have been the object of a great deal of scrutiny from the press,” he wrote. “I have declined to comment on what has been written about me, imagining that with time the attention would dissipate. Because that has yet to happen, I have decided to correct some of the misinformation that has been published about me. It is not my intention to impose the views I describe below on anyone else.”In addition to leaving his position at Rentech, Mercer announced in the letter that he will also sell his stake in the far-right news website Breitbart News to his daughters — including Rebekah Mercer, a major Republican donor who served on the executive committee of President Donald Trump’s transition team.In addition to leaving his position at Rentech, Mercer announced in the letter that he will also sell his stake in the far-right news website Breitbart News to his daughters — including Rebekah Mercer, a major Republican donor who served on the executive committee of President Donald Trump’s transition team.Mercer did not give a reason for his departure. But in the letter, he sought to distance himself from some polarizing figures with whom he has become associated, including former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who now again heads Breitbart, and the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous.
In his letter, Mercer lambasted Milo Yiannopoulous, former Breitbart News editor and alt-right champion. Yiannopoulous quit the news company in February and has struggled to provoke his way back into the public eye after comments he made about pederasty.
Buzzfeed is taking credit for this scalp.
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