Raj Peter Bhakta | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Boston College (BA) |
Raj Peter Bhakta (born 1975) is an American entrepreneur, spirits industry executive, real estate investor and former media and political personality. In 2004, Bhakta was a contestant on thesecond season of the reality showThe Apprentice. He is also the founder ofWhistlePig whiskey, a premium whiskey company. In 2006, he campaigned for a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 13th district as aRepublican, but lost to incumbentDemocratAllyson Schwartz.
Born to aGujarati father from Nansad nearSurat,India[1] and anIrish mother,[2] Bhakta moved fromOxford Circle, Philadelphia toBlue Bell, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. After graduating fromThe Hill School inPottstown, Pennsylvania, Bhakta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree fromBoston College in Economics and History with a concentration in Finance in 1998.
Bhakta began his career working at the investment banking firm of Violy & Co. in New York City.[3] Bhakta then founded Automovia, a technology startup specializing in the valuation ofpre-owned vehicles. Thereafter, he led the Apex Vailcondominium development project inVail, Colorado.[4][5]
In the fall of 2004, Bhakta appeared on the second season of the business reality television show,The Apprentice. On the show, Bhakta propositionedAnna Kournikova andDonald Trump's assistant to go out with him on dates, and was fired by Trump on the ninth week of the show.[6] His relationships with women became fodder for gossip columns such asNew York Post's Page Six, and his frequent wearing ofbow ties was credited with a surge in bow tie sales.[7][8]
After appearing onThe Apprentice, Bhakta advocatedSocial Security reform in meetings with Congressional leadership.[9] Bhakta was also a guest onMSNBC andFox News and appeared onCNN'sCrossfire.[10]
With the support ofThomas J. Ellis, the Republican chairman of theMontgomery County Board of Commissioners, he sought and won the Republican nomination for the13th congressional district. In thegeneral election, Bhakta lost to incumbent DemocratAllyson Schwartz by more than 30 points.[11] Bhakta's campaign generated significant national media attention as a consequence of Bhakta's background onThe Apprentice, his attention-getting campaign maneuvers, and his reputation as aplayboy.[12][13]
During the campaign, Bhakta's judgment and fitness to lead were called into question as a result of his having been arrested twice, in 1997 and 2004, fordrunk driving.[14] After reports of the arrests surfaced during the campaign, Bhakta said "I ask for the forgiveness and understanding of the voters, while giving them my solemn pledge that this behavior will not happen again", and said "Politicians today need to come clean".[14]
On October 10, 2006, Bhakta illustrated the ease of crossing theUnited States-Mexico border by riding an elephant along the border for ninety minutes, accompanied by a six-manmariachi band. Neither Bhakta nor the mariachi band broke the law by crossing the border, as they remained on private property along theRio Grande inTexas.[15] Bhakta said that he got the idea by seeing a Mexican man illegally cross the border by wading across the Rio Grande. Bhakta had a camera to record the man's illegal crossing, and succeeded in getting the man detained by border authorities.[16] The demonstration garnered national attention for Bhakta's campaign.[17][18] Bhakta was interviewed byBill O'Reilly,[19]Rita Cosby,[20]Glenn Beck,[21] andJohn Gibson.[22] "This is not about the poor Mexican immigrant who wants to come for a better life that's the real problem here," Bhakta said. He added, "The border security is a joke and this is a creative and very effective way of showing it."[23]
On November 7, 2006, thePhiladelphia Daily News reported that Bhakta's campaign made "stunning" automated campaign calls to homes in Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County detailing the charges in 18 lawsuits against anabortion clinic founded by Schwartz.[24]
Bhakta founded theWhistlePig brand ofrye whiskey, which was initially launched as anon-distiller producer that bottledCanadian whiskey from theAlberta Premium distillery owned byFortune Brands inAlberta, Canada.[25] Starting in 2007, he purchased land inVermont, on which he built a new distillery and aging facility for the brand.[26] The brand was officially launched in 2010.[25]
Bhakta was forced out of the WhistlePig.[27] He sold his shares and fully exited the company in 2019.[28]
After leaving WhistlePig, Bhakta launched his new enterprise Bhakta Spirits inShoreham, Vermont. In 2019, Bhakta negotiated purchase of a rare stock of agedArmagnac brandies while on vacation inGers, France. With vintages dating from 1868 to 1970, these spirits were the basis for his new enterprise, Bhakta Spirits. After acquiring the brandy stocks, along with theCondom, Gers chateau where they were found, Bhakta brought them back to Vermont for blending and marketing. His flagship brandy, BHAKTA 50, launched in July 2020.[29]
In 2019, Bhakta purchased the Whiteface Ranch inIndian River County, Florida for $5.9 million and began rum distilling operation on the site.[30]
In August 2020, Bhakta purchased at auction the campus ofGreen Mountain College inPoultney, Vermont.[31]
Bhakta met Danhee Kim, aColumbia University grad in 2010, while she was hired as his executive assistant. Kim later worked as a marketing and sales director for Bhakta's WhistlePig whiskey company. The couple married in 2013 and lived inVermont.[32][33] The couple moved toVero Beach, Florida in 2017.[30]
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