Robert Mercer likes to describe himself as a mere computer programmer. In fact, his early work on artificial intelligence led to him create algorithms that would transform financial trading, making him a billionaire and a conservative donor who arguably did more than any other to put Donald Trump in power.
He speaks rarely in public – and never to journalists. As a result, his wealth and kingmaker status have taken on a near mythical status, only enhanced by his stake in Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics firm at the centre of a growing privacy scandal.
The foundations of his power come from his time at IBM Research, where he worked after completing a PhD in computer science at the University of Illinois.
But he made his mark on Wall Street when he joined the hedge fund Renaissance. It was the early 1990s and quantitative analysts were beginning to take over financial trading with complex mathematical models.
Mr Mercer's expertise in AI made him perfectly placed to build systems that could use tiny advantages in speed and knowledge to maximise profits.
Like so much of his life, how he did it remains secret. But today the 71-year-old is credited with making Renaissance one of the world’s most successful funds. One employee retirement fund made annual gains of more than 70 per cent up to 2014, according to Bloomberg.
His success saw him elevated to co-chief executive in 2009, acquiring the sort of wealth that allowed him to buy a $2.9m train set.
And with it came political influence.
Much of his money has been channelled through conservative organisations such as the Heritage Foundation. But some has also gone into more extreme projects, including a climate change denying think tank, the Heartland Institute, or efforts to disrupt mainstream media, with a reported $10 million stake in Breitbart News that enabled Steve Bannon to embark on his project of turning the website into an explosive, populist Huffington Post for the Right.
The site helped launch such incendiary figures as Milo Yiannopoulis and others in the alt-Right.
But Mr Mercer – along with his daughter Rebekah – may have reached the height of his powers in the 2016 US presidential election.
As well as donations from their political fund, the pair were instrumental in building Mr Trump's campaign. They introduced the New York property mogul to Mr Bannon, who would later become White House chief strategist.
Mr Bannon's greatest contribution may not have been his populist instincts and strategic brain but the “secret sauce” of his patron’s new technology firm that could identify the personality types of key swing voters, finding silent Trump supporters and delivering them to the ballot box.
Although Mr Mercer was only ever a passive investor in Cambridge Analytica – to the tune of a reported $15 million – his daughter sits on its board.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Company%20profile%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Easter%20Sunday
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
SHAITTAN
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