Steve Bannon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Bannon

Stephen Kevin "Steve" Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American campaign manager, businessman, and media executive who is chief strategist and Senior Counselor for the presidency of Donald Trump. Bannon became chief executive officer of the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump in August 2016, and previously served as executive chair of Breitbart News, a far-right news, opinion, and commentary website that Bannon described as the platform of the Internet-based alt-right.

Bannon took a leave of absence from Breitbart in order to work for the campaign. In preparation for serving as chief strategist, he plans to resign from Breitbart.

Early life

Bannon 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.

Bannon is a former United States Navy officer, having served aboard USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964) as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Pacific Fleet.

Business and media career

After his military service, Bannon worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions Department. 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.

Bannon started his film career working with actor-director Sean Penn on The Indian Runner (1991).

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.

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.

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 academic Peter Schweizer and publisher Andrew Breitbart.

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. Bannon is also executive chairman and co-founder of the Government Accountability Institute, where he helped orchestrate the publication of book Clinton Cash.

In 2015, Bannon was ranked No. 19 on Mediaite's list of the "25 Most Influential in Political News Media 2015".

On August 17, 2016, he was appointed Chief Executive of Donald Trump's campaign to become President of the United States of America. He went on leave from Breitbart in order to take the new job.

On November 13, 2016, he was appointed Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to President-Elect Donald J. Trump.

Personal life

In February 1996, Bannon’s second wife accused Bannon of attacking her at their home. Bannon was charged with domestic violence, battery and attempting to dissuade a victim from reporting a crime, but the case was dropped when his wife did not show up in court. In court records, she later claimed that Bannon instructed her to leave town to avoid testifying. During the divorce proceedings she also accused Bannon of making anti-Semitic statements concerning their children's schools.

Bannon identifies as a conservative. Speaking about his role at Breitbart, Bannon said: "We think of ourselves as virulently anti-establishment, particularly 'anti-' the permanent political class."

Bannon's oldest daughter, Maureen, is a West Point graduate and, as of August 2014, a CPT (O-3 rank of captain) in the United States Army.

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. 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.