How the Top Donors in 2016 Line Up
Wealthy donors are putting millions of dollars behind Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the race for the White House. Here are their biggest donors so far.
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A computer programmer by training, Mercer made a fortune at Renaissance Technologies, a Long Island, New York, hedge fund that uses algorithms to spot market patterns. His middle daughter, Rebekah, oversees much of his philanthropic and political activity. That includes an ownership stake in Breitbart News, the fervently pro-Trump media outlet, and in a company that sells data to campaigns. The Mercers backed Ted Cruz in the Republican primary, but after he dropped out, they redirected the PAC's resources to focus on running anti-Clinton messages, and publicly rebuked Cruz for refusing to back the nominee. One of Mercer's pet issues: returning the U.S. to the gold standard.