Major Trump backer Rebekah Mercer orchestrates Parler’s second act / FEB 24
Mercer, whose family also invested in right-wing news site Breitbart, controls two of the three board seats at the company
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/24/parler-relaunch-rebekah-mercer/
Rebekah Mercer, the 47-year-old daughter of major Republican donor Robert Mercer, is a founding investor of Parler. She increasingly pulls the strings at the company, according to people familiar with the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private business matters. She holds the majority stake in Parler and controlled two of three board seats as of early February — a board to which she recently appointed allies. [snip]
Now Mercer, who is credited with helping get Donald Trump elected president in 2016, is working to revive the site. It came back online last week with her new handpicked CEO, former Tea Party Patriots leader, Mark Meckler, at the helm. It’s the latest in a long line of maneuvers by the Mercer family to create an alternative media industry that pushes a version of the news that fits with their right-wing, populist political agenda — while keeping a low profile themselves. [snip]
Mercer has worked with her father for years to fund and support a complicated web of foundations and companies designed in part to sow distrust of big government. The Mercers invested in data company Cambridge Analytica, the firm that spurred a long-running scandal over misuse of Facebook data. They also invested heavily in right-wing site Breitbart News and were instrumental in connecting its then executive chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, with Trump, whom he served as a senior adviser until mid-2017. [snip]
In the weeks while Parler was dark, Meckler was appointed interim CEO. Matthew Richardson, another Mercer ally and former party secretary of the populist right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP), joined the executive committee.
More info also covered re Rebekah, Parler and its role in the insurrection, as well as the hosting company (SkySilk) and new automated moderating. I don't trust anything about Parler for a second, especially not with the cast involved behind the scenes. Pfffft. This will not be a good thing.
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