Global InformationAlexander Nix information
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Alexander Nix | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Nix at Web Summit 2017 in Lisbon | |
| Born | Alexander James Ashburner Nix 1 May 1975 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | University of Manchester |
| Occupation(s) | Director (formerly), Emerdata Director (formerly), SCL Group CEO (formerly), Cambridge Analytica |
| Spouse | Olympia Paus |
| Family | Nix family |
Alexander James Ashburner Nix (born 1 May 1975) is a British businessman, the former CEO of Cambridge Analytica[1] and a former director of the Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) Group,[2] a behavioural research and strategic communications consultancy, leading its elections division (SCL Elections). Cambridge Analytica and its parent SCL were involved in psychological warfare operations for the British military and involved in influencing hundreds of elections globally; Cambridge Analytica helped Leave.EU with its Brexit campaign, according to both Leave.EU and Cambridge Analytica staff. The company was also engaged by the Ted Cruz and Donald Trump campaigns during the 2016 US presidential election. The company also ran Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's campaign.[3]
A member of the Ashburner-Nix family of Crawley, Nix grew up in Notting Hill, attended Eton and studied art history. Nix started his career as a financial analyst with Baring Securities in Mexico before moving to the strategic communication industry and joining SCL Group, a private intelligence company active in the military and political arenas founded by Nigel Oakes and whose president was former Conservative minister Sir Geoffrey Pattie; Nix's father was also a co-owner of SCL. In 2013 he became CEO of SCL's new subsidiary Cambridge Analytica. The men behind Cambridge Analytica and its parent SCL were described as having close ties to the Conservative Party (UK), the British royal family and the British military, and included some of the Conservative Party's largest donors, and former Conservative minister Jonathan Marland, Baron Marland.[4] The company provided advice to the Foreign Office and Nix met with Boris Johnson in 2016.[5][6]
Both in the UK and the US campaigns, Cambridge Analytica used private information from over 87 million Facebook users harvested from their profiles without permission.[7] In 2018 Cambridge Analytica was dissolved after undercover video footage showed Nix claiming his company was using honey traps, bribery stings, and prostitutes, among other tactics, to influence more than 200 elections globally for his clients.[8][9][10] In 2019 Nix and his colleague Aleksandr Kogan settled with the Federal Trade Commission, agreeing to delete previously obtained data;[11] in 2020, Nix agreed to a disqualification undertaking prohibiting him from running U.K. limited companies for seven years after permitting companies to offer potentially unethical services, while denying any wrongdoing.[12][13]
- ^ Butcher, Mike (6 November 2017). "Cambridge Analytica CEO talks to TechCrunch about Trump, Hillary and the future". Techcrunch. Oath Tech Network. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "SCL GROUP LIMITED Companies House data". Company Check. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ "Cambridge Analytica stage-managed Kenyan president's campaigns - UK TV". 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020 – via af.reuters.com.
- ^ Brown, David. "SCL Group's founders were connected to royalty, the rich and powerful". Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ Correspondent, Catherine Philp, Diplomatic. "Foreign Office sought advice from Cambridge Analytica chiefs". Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Boris Johnson's undisclosed meeting with Alexander Nix of Cambridge Analytica | the Spectator". 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ Hern, Alex (16 April 2018). "Far more than 87m Facebook users had data compromised, MPs told". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Cambridge Analytica CEO 'admits to dirty tricks'". The Week. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Cambridge Analytica: Facebook row firm boss suspended". BBC News. 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ Gilbert, David (19 March 2018). "Cambridge Analytica Bragged About Using Fake News, Bribes, And Ukrainian Hookers to Influence Elections". Vice News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- ^ "Aleksandr Kogan and Alexander Nix, In the Matter of". Federal Trade Commission. 24 July 2019. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "Former Cambridge Analytica chief receives seven-year directorship ban". the Guardian. 24 September 2020. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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