The Mercer Family Foundation is a private grant-making foundation in the United States. As of 2013, it had $37 million in assets.[3] The foundation is run by Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of computer scientist and hedge fund manager Robert Mercer.[4][5]
Under Rebekah’s leadership, the family foundation invested about $70 million into conservative causes between 2009 and 2014.[6] The foundation has also donated to groups critical of climate change activism.[7]
The foundation's main interests are in the fields of public policy, higher education, and science.[8]
The foundation has donated to organizations and institutions, including The Heritage Foundation, Illinois Policy Institute, Heartland Institute, and SUNY Stony Brook.[9] Mercer provides funding to the Home Depot Foundation, whose mission is to "improve the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans and their families."[8]
The Mercer Family Foundation has lobbied against efforts to fully fund the Internal Revenue Service.[10]
The organization has been linked to the funding of Donald Trump and other U.S. far-right entities. Similar allegations have been made about links to members of the UK government.[11]
According to The Washington Post, the family donated $35 million to conservative think tanks and at least to $36.5 million to individual GOP races.