In CPAC in 2011 I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephen Bannon. He was very coopertive and personable. When Trump announced Bannon was joining the campaign I knew Trump would win. be
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Stephen Kevin "Steve" Bannon (born
November 27, 1953) is an American businessman and media executive. He is the
executive chairman of Breitbart News,
a politically conservative American news, opinion and commentary website noted
for its connection to the alt-right.[1][2] Bannon will be Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor of the upcoming Trump Administration.[3] He became chief executive officer of
the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump in August 2016.[4][5]
He is the co-founder and executive chairman of the Government Accountability Institute and the executive chairman of
Breitbart News LLC, the parent company of Breitbart News.[6] He has been involved in the financing
and production of a number of films, including Fire from the
Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman, The Undefeated (on Sarah Palin),
and Occupy Unmasked.
Bannon also hosts a radio show (Breitbart News Daily) on a Sirius XM satellite radio channel.[7]
Bannon was born on
November 27, 1953 in Norfolk, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1976 and holds a master's degree in National Security
Studies from Georgetown University.
In 1983, Bannon received an M.B.A. degree
with honors from Harvard Business
School.[8]
Bannon was an
officer in the United States Navy,
serving on the destroyer USS Paul
F. Foster as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Pacific Fleet and
stateside as a special assistant to the Chief of Naval
Operations at the Pentagon.[9]
Business and media career
After his military
service, Bannon worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in
the Mergers & Acquisitions Department.[10]In 1990, Bannon and several
colleagues from Goldman Sachs launched Bannon & Co., a boutique investment
bank specializing in media. Through Bannon & Co., Bannon negotiated the
sale of Castle Rock
Entertainment to Ted Turner. As payment, Bannon & Co.
accepted a stake in five television shows, including Seinfeld. Société Générale purchased
Bannon & Co. in 1998.[11]
In 1993, while
still managing Bannon & Co., Bannon was made acting director of
Earth-science research project Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona. Under Bannon, the project
shifted emphasis from researching space exploration and colonization towards
pollution and global warming. He left the project in 1995.[12][13] After the sale of Bannon &
Co., Bannon became an executive producer in Hollywood. He executive produced Anthony Hopkins's 1999 film Titus. Bannon became a partner with
entertainment industry executive Jeff Kwatinetz at The Firm, Inc., a film and television
management company.[11] In 2004, Bannon made a
documentary about Ronald Reagan titled In the Face of Evil. Through the making
and screening of this film, Bannon was introduced to Peter Schweizer and publisher Andrew Breitbart.[11]
From 2007 through
2011, Bannon was chairman and CEO of
Affinity Media. From March 2012 to August 2016, Bannon was executive chairman
of Breitbart News LLC, the parent company of Breitbart.[14][15] Under his leadership,
Breitbart took a more alt-right and nationalistic approach towards its agenda.[16] Bannon identifies as a conservative.[17][18][19] Speaking about his role at
Breitbart, Bannon said: "We think of ourselves as virulently anti-establishment,
particularly 'anti-' the permanent political class."[20]
Bannon is also
executive chairman and co-founder of the Government
Accountability Institute, where he helped orchestrate the
publication of book Clinton Cash.[6][11] In 2015, Bannon was ranked No.
19 on Mediaite's list of the "25 Most
Influential in Political News Media 2015".[21]
Trump campaign and
administration
On August 17, 2016,
he was appointed Chief Executive of Donald Trump's campaign to
become President of
the United States.[14][17][22][23] On November 13, 2016, he was
appointed Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to President-Elect Donald J.
Trump, drawing strong opposition from the Anti-Defamation
League, the Council
on American–Islamic Relations, and the Southern
Poverty Law Center due to statements from Breitbart they argued
were racist and anti-semitic.[4][5][24][25][26][27] On the other hand, David Horowitz wrote: "I have known
Steve Bannon for many years. This is a good man. He does not have an
Anti-Semitic bone in his body."[28] Bannon was, as of mid-August
2016, registered to vote in Miami-Dade
County, Florida, at the former
residence of Diane Clohesy, Bannon's third ex-wife, but the residence was
vacant and slated for demolition.[29] On August 26, 2016, Bannon’s
voter registration information was changed to an address in Sarasota County,
an address associated with venture capitalist Andrew Badolato, who has been
involved in films produced and directed by Bannon.[30][31]
