Russell Goldencloud Weiner (born February 15, 1970) is an American businessman and works in political fundraising.

Early life and education

Weiner is the son of Michael Weiner, better known as conservative radio talk show host

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942) known by his professional name Michael Savage, is an American author, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Nation'', a nationally ...

, and Janet Weiner. He is Jewish. Weiner graduated from Redwood High School in

Larkspur, California Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located directly south of Kentfield, California, Kentfield and south of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at an elevation of . As of the 2 ...

and graduated from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

with a bachelor's degree in political science. He organized events for the Paul Revere Society and worked as a travel consultant.

Career

He is the creator of the

Rockstar energy drink Rockstar (stylized as ROCKST★R or ЯR) is a brand of energy drinks created in 2001, which had a 10% market share of the global energy drink market in 2020, the third-highest after Red Bull and Monster Energy. Rockstar is based in Purchase, Ne ...

. Weiner is also the founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of his own company, which is now based in Purchase, New York. In 2016, he was 494th on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' list of the 500 richest Americans with an estimated worth of $3.4 billion dollars.

Politics

He co-founded the Paul Revere Society with his father. In 1998, he ran as a Republican for the 6th district seat in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, receiving an endorsement from the president of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

branch in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. In June 1998, Weiner won the Republican primary election by five votes. His campaign positions included advocacy for Proposition 227, the ballot initiative eliminating

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...

in public schools, and protection of

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

s. He lost to incumbent Democrat Kerry Mazzoni receiving 13.3% of the vote. After the election, some election posters depicting him were vandalized in an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

manner. In 2009, Weiner donated $25,000 to the California gubernatorial campaign of

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

, who was the Democratic mayor of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Newsom returned the donation and Weiner gave it to charity.

Personal life

Weiner has been in the real estate industry; he buys and sells houses. In 2006, he bought the

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

home of basketball player

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last season ...

for $10 million. In 2008, he listed another home there for about $3 million (originally it was nearly $15 million based on replacement costs) and sold it for $8 million in 2009. Weiner lives in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

, Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiner, Russell 1970 births Living people 20th-century American Jews American drink industry businesspeople American chief executives of food industry companies American political fundraisers Place of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Los Angeles California Republicans People from Los Angeles County, California People from Larkspur, California People from West Hollywood, California San Diego State University alumni American billionaires 21st-century American Jews Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni