The Age of Bannon

1953

Born into an Irish-Catholic family, Bannon grew up near a naval base in Virginia.

1975

Bannon won the Student Government Association presidency during his junior year at Virginia Tech.

Late 1970s to early 1980s

Bannon joined the Navy, attended officer school and served on the destroyer U.S.S. Paul F. Foster. He then became a special assistant to the chief of naval operations at the Pentagon.

1983–85

Bannon got his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Late 1980s

He worked at Goldman Sachs until he launched his own boutique investment bank, Bannon & Co., in 1990.

1993

Bannon received a small but lucrative stake in Seinfeld as part of his compensation for consulting on the sale of Castle Rock Entertainment to Turner.

Mid-1990s

Bannon was hired to turn around a struggling Arizona project called Biosphere 2, to test whether humans could survive in space. He clashed with the management and researchers, some of whom staged a mutiny.

Late 1990s

Bannon left his firm to focus on the entertainment business, producing and directing movies such as Anthony Hopkins’ Titus, a 2004 Ronald Reagan movie called In the Face of Evil and a 2011 documentary about Sarah Palin titled The Undefeated.

2010

Bannon spoke at a Tea Party gathering in New York in 2010.

2011

After meeting Andrew Breitbart in the early 2000s, Bannon joined Breitbart News’ board in 2011. When Breitbart died in 2012, Bannon took over as executive chairman of the news network.

2012

Bannon founded the Government Accountability Institute, a research organization that investigates politicians and aims to partner with mainstream media outlets.

August 2016

Donald Trump appointed Bannon as his campaign CEO.

November 2016

Trump announced that Bannon would serve as his chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House.

–Abigail Abrams