Talk:Robert Mercer

2016 Trump Presidential Campaign

Time to expand the politics.--Wikipietime (talk) 15:43, 19 August 2016 (UTC) The name of the super pac and the key individuals of? where the article states; "Mercer was a major financial supporter of the 2016 presidential campaign of Ted Cruz,[23] contributing $11 million to a super PAC associated with the candidate.[24]" --Wikipietime (talk) 14:55, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Controversy

The first paragraph of the Controversy section, citing a New Yorker article which cited an unnamed former employee, was added in March by 96.83.236.73 (User:96.83.236.73), removed by Zbase4 (User:Zbase4), and added back by 68.82.189.220 (User:68.82.189.220) with some participation by Stacker4414 (User:Stacker4414) and Nbauman (User:Nbauman) and FeralOink (User:FeralOink). I have removed it again, and remind 68.82.189.220 that the burden is on the person re-instating controversial material -- which means go to talk page rather than reverting Zbase4 three times. Per WP:BLP, "Contentious material about living persons ... ... that is unsourced or poorly sourced — whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion." I contend that anonymous former employees are poor sources. Essentially: nobody can produce this supposed evidence. Peter Gulutzan (talk) 02:14, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

I have reinserted this, because the deletion appears to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the cited policy. The source that is cited here, in the sense of this policy, is not the former employee, but The New Yorker, a publication that has an excellent reputation for its fact-checking and accuracy (read the linked article). You may also want to read WP:RS and WP:PSTS. Regards, HaeB (talk) 02:40, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

Nobody needs to accept HaeB's claims regardless how confidently they are made -- WP:BLP actually says "poorly sourced" not "poorly cited sourced", WP:RS actually says WP:CONTEXTMATTERS applies not "New Yorker makes it okay". I am not, however, re-removing HaeB's edit immediately -- we'll see first whether other opinions exist. Peter Gulutzan (talk) 14:19, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

Update: We now know that David Hagerman said it (the New Yorker does not identify him as the source of this specific statement but he is discussed in Long Island Business News 2017-05-08 "Ex Renaissance employee sues Robert Mercer"). So I will not re-remove after all. Peter Gulutzan (talk) 14:18, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

Nice article : https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.231.167.140 (talk) 18:00, 9 May 2017 (UTC)

Robert Mercer personal trait

An edit to the article, referring to Robert Mercer as being "painfully awkward socially and rarely speaking", has been reversed with the notation that it is not encyclopedic and it transgresses guidelines about biographies of living persons. I disagree with that conclusion.

First of all, the source is a well-researched article from the New Yorker, which cites people, so it is not just a gossip by one person. Second a character trait is very important to understand how a person functions, acts and interacts with others and with society in general; because of this I think it is more noteworthy than knowing he owns an HO-scale train set. Some may interpret this personality trait as being not importants, but others may use it to decipher his reaction to events, or browse the DSM trying to find associated behaviors, or understand other comportamental issues.

Regarding the transgression of guidelines about biographies of living persons, there are 16 second-level sections, and I could not identify one that would seem to be infringed. If one looks at the statement superficially, one may not think it is important, but if one looks at the article it adds an important piece of information that explains the individual being biographed.

This is a public figure, because of its placement and interaction in society, and it deserves the level of detail that fully describes that interaction.--Gciriani (talk) 13:50, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

How about WP:BLPGOSSIP, which says: "Avoid repeating gossip. Ask yourself whether the source is reliable; whether the material is being presented as true; and whether, even if true, it is relevant to a disinterested article about the subject. Be wary of relying on sources that use weasel words and that attribute material to anonymous sources." The relevance is merely claimed not shown; the source doesn't explicitly present it as true; the New Yorker source attributes the material to anonymous sources ("people who know him"). I believe it was correct to revert Gciriani's edit. Peter Gulutzan (talk) 15:58, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

Primarily, the policy I was thinking of when I removed this content was WP:NOTEVERYTHING. Just because something is included in a reliable source doesn't mean it should be included in an encyclopedia article, especially when that content is trivial (in my view) and reflects poorly on a biographical subject (where BLP comes in). The inclusion of this material reads as petty and non-neutral. These sorts of personal affects are common in in-depth color pieces like the New Yorker article, but they are rarely encyclopedic. That said, if his demeanor is similarly mentioned by a second reliable source then I would seriously consider re-inclusion. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 16:58, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

The New Yorker article is by Jane Mayer, an investigative journalist who doesn't trade on gossips. It seems to me the journalist is reliable, as she has been the author of other major investigative pieces. If you read the paragraph of the New Yorker magazine in which that sentence is inserted, it doesn't read as gossip, but as depicting a personality trait that is confirmed by the subject himself. In the same paragraph | The Wall Street Journal support this general angle with another statement. | Newsweek in 2016, had an article along those same lines. The New Yorker article is more powerful because it summarizes all of those info in a powerful paragraph that was supported by the people she interviewed. If you want to exclude my citation because of "noteverything" Wikipedia policy I think you need to exclude many less relevant tidbits such as the HO-scale train model, and probably many others.--Gciriani (talk) 21:40, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

Both the WSJ and Newsweek links are broken. What do those sources say about Mercer's personal affect? --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 23:24, 31 October 2017 (UTC)

I corrected the links to WSJ and Newsweek.--Gciriani (talk) 19:58, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

I'm sorry, those links aren't helpful. The Newsweek source doesn't mention Mercer at all, and I can't access the WSJ source. Perhaps you can quote the relevant language from the WSJ source here. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 21:17, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

United Kingdom's exit from the European Union classed as "right-wing" - no source

In the opening paragraph, the line "Mercer is a major funder of organizations supporting a right-wing agenda [..] and Brexit in the United Kingdom" - where in the source, or any reputable source, is it stated that "Brexit" is part of a "right-wing agenda"? - Piers39293 (talk) 19:14, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

What part of the word "and" confuses you? Ghmyrtle (talk) 19:24, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

The implication is clear, even more so after the recent edit. It directly implies that "Brexit" is a "right-wing" cause without providing proof in the source - Piers39293 (talk) 16:43, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

As the other user said; what part of the word and do you not understand?--Senor Freebie (talk) 08:43, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

There's no point in piling it on. This issue was resolved almost a month ago. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 17:09, 1 December 2017 (UTC)

Brexit

We have an IP disputing that Mercer played a "key role" in Brexit, despite that cite a reliable source that says exactly that. (There are several other reliable sources that say this as well.) The IP says his key role wasn't "proven" but our verifiability policy doesn't require proof. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 23:39, 4 January 2018 (UTC)

The source says 'played key role in Brexit campaign', note the use of the marks. It also says in the first paragraph that it he "reportedly played", with the second paragraph saying "allegedly directed". Furthermore the source also says it is about the Brexit leave campaign ie the non binding advisory referendum and not the actual process of Britain leaving the EU. In this case it looks like the IP is right. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 00:05, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

I researched this yesterday. If you dig through the cited sources you'll see the "key role" language is well backed up. Not just "reportedly." I'll provide some links shortly. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 02:07, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

If that is true then we must cite those sources as the Independent source has added the view that it is just reportedly. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 12:22, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

Here's one reliable source that backs up the 'key role in Brexit' content. I believe there are more. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 17:31, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

That says the Brexit campaign i.e. the referendum, not the actual Brexit. Furthermore that article says This article is the subject of a legal complaint on behalf of Cambridge Analytica LLC and SCL Elections Limited., while that does not mean it is necessarily wrong I would prefer a better source if possible. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 18:09, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

Of course all the sources are talking about the campaign. So we can add the word "campaign" if you wish. The legal complaint is irrelevant. There's no reason to believe it has anything to do with the sentence in question, and the fact that a complaint was filed means nothing. If there was merit to the claim then The Guardian would have issued a correction or retraction. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 19:07, 5 January 2018 (UTC)

All of the sources provided are from one agency and written by the same author. The author is the only one saying he played a role. If he did play a role, don't you think there would be sources to back this up? Other news outlets just refer back to the Guardian article. The lawsuits do matter, the authenticity of the claims are being challenged. The British government is also conducting an investigation about the claims in the article. We need to let this play out before adding it.Dkspartan1835 (talk) 07:28, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm sorry I don't understand. We have multiple reliable sources saying Mercer played a role in Brexit. We have no reliable sources saying he didn't. What's the verifiability issue? Are you suggesting this was fake news? --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 17:11, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

If we have multiple "reliable" sources then why can't we use one of them instead of the one that is the subject of a legal complaint? Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 17:22, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't care which one we use. Heck, add them all if you really feel it's necessary. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 18:22, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

I don't get the argument about the source being "single": wasn't it the case for the Pentagon Papers as well as for the Watergate, a one and only source that others newspapers referred to?... Lspiste (talk) 16:11, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

• Emir-- Lspiste, Jasonanaggie, and I all believe this is a reliable source. Are we going to continue this dispute? --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 20:00, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

I have questioned the reliability of this source, following concerns raised by an IP. Looks like Dkspartan1835 also shares some concerns. I think that the two users you pinged were just making the assumption based upon the general reliability of The Guardian, and that they were unaware of it being the subject of legal complaints. You said we have multiple reliable sources, and I think that the best way to end the dispute would be just to use one of them instead of a questionable source. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 20:06, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

The Guardian source is the most reliable one out there and is directly on point. Here is a reliable source from Snopes.com describing the legal dispute. In short this is nothing more than a reliable source conducting investigative journalism and a private party disputing the reporting and threatening to file a defamation lawsuit. The Guardian did not retract the article after receiving the threat, indicating that the source is even more reliable as the result of additional internal scrutiny. I completely and totally reject the idea that a piece of news reporting from a reliable outlet like The Guardian is rendered unreliable by denials or threats of defamation lawsuits. If that were our standard then we'd have to delete half of Donald Trump. --Dr. Fleischman (talk) 23:33, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

I totally agree with the position exposed by Dr. Fleischman above. I would add that obviously, The Guardian belongs to what WP calls reliable sources and NOT to questionable sources, i.e. "that have a poor reputation for checking the facts, lack meaningful editorial oversight, or have an apparent conflict of interest". The lawsuit issue is out of scope, as it does not make the source less pertinent nor valuable. And since Cambridge Analytica systematically declined to comment its decision to sue The Guardian, the existence of this lawsuit is just a piece of information that can be linked with a note to the Guardian source, for it is the only element we have about the point of view of CA regarding The Guardian report. Lspiste (talk) 01:06, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

Perhaps we should remove it the unreliable source tag if there is no longer a consensus to include it, but be prepared to defend its removal if anyone further disputes the reliability. Note that nobody is disputing the general reliability of The Guardian but just this small case, even the most reliable of sources can occasionally make mistakes. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 11:51, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

OK, so let's remove it: if such a dispute should arise, present reasoning will remain valid as well. Lspiste (talk) 17:08, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 4 September 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: pages moved. wbm1058 (talk) 15:26, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

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• Robert Mercer (businessman) → Robert Mercer
• Robert Mercer → Robert Mercer (disambiguation)

– Only one other Robert, rather than Bob, and given how (in)famous the businessman has become over the past three years, it's clear he's the primary topic.[1] Unreal7 (talk) 21:09, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

• The more complete page views analysis. The disambiguation gets by far the second-highest levels of page views, so we help our readers by bypassing the dab to take them directly to the primary topic. wbm1058 (talk) 15:20, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Le Monde

https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2019/03/07/des-milliardaires-americains-financent-discretement-des-campagnes-de-desinformation-en-europe_5432486_4408996.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.154.73.17 (talk) 12:02, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Soros has donated or committed more than $25 million to boost Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates

Soros has donated or committed more than $25 million to boost Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes, according to Federal Election Commission records and interviews with his associates and Democratic fundraising operatives. And some of his associates say they expect Soros, who amassed a fortune estimated at $24.9 billion through risky currency trades, to give even more as Election Day nears.

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/george-soros-democratic-convention-226267

The single largest donor in the 2016 federal elections. This page tries to say Mercer was in weasel words- and the gate keepers at the Soros page won't allow this information to be included.

It's very hard to see why people question the NPOV of the WP perpetually. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.251.239 (talk) 04:52, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

Removed caricature

I removed a caricature of Robert Mercer from the article as it is both out of place and unbecoming of a personal profile on Wikipedia. I realize there are no pictures of the man but a cartoon of someone just seemed unnecessary and completely out of place. 122.57.8.133 (talk) 07:13, 22 October 2019 (UTC)

See Also

Right now, there are three See Alsos:

Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum

Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

There is ZERO mention of Russia in the article until this point. It's almost like someone with ideological motivations tried to edit the article to semi-subtly imply that Mercer has some unsavoury Russian connections. Which may very well be true, for all I know or care, but it's a very dishonest way to insert it without any citations into the article. I do not mean to imply bad faith here and I apologize if that is how it came across. 172.83.161.67 (talk) 13:02, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

removed. Peter Gulutzan (talk) 00:04, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

2016 election donations

The article says, By January 2016 Mercer was the biggest single donor in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In June 2016, he was ranked the #1 donor to federal candidates in the 2016 election cycle as he had donated $2 million to John R. Bolton's super PAC and $668,000 to the Republican National Committee. Maybe so in January and June, but by the end of the race I don't think he was the biggest donor. The New Yorker says, "It’s worth noting that several other wealthy financiers, including Democrats such as Thomas Steyer and Donald Sussman, gave even more money to campaigns." And Open Secrets says Steyer gave $89 million, Mercer gave $22 million. Am I wrong? I propose changing the text to Mercer was one of the biggest donors in the 2016 U.S. elections, donating $22.5 million to Republican candidates and PACs. Source is New Yorker: "In the 2016 campaign, Mercer gave $22.5 million in disclosed donations to Republican candidates and to political-action committees." --Cerebellum (talk) 16:34, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

 Done --Cerebellum (talk) 09:43, 20 February 2022 (UTC)

Photo

Isn't there any pictures of him, why? Carzole (talk) 00:25, 19 March 2024 (UTC)