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 the second season of the reality show ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''. He is also the founder of

WhistlePig WhistlePig is a whiskey distillery based in Vermont. The distillery primarily makes rye whiskey, and is known for "ultra-premium" rye, a category it largely occupied alone in the early 21st century, when most rye sold for about $20 per bottle. Whi ...

whiskey, a premium whiskey company. In 2006, he campaigned for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 13th district as a Republican, but lost to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Allyson Schwartz Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast and ...

Early life and education

Born to a Gujarati, Indian father from Kathor, near

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, Gujarat, and an Irish mother, Bhakta moved from Oxford Circle, Philadelphia to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. After graduating from The Hill School in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

, Bhakta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in Economics and History with a concentration in Finance in 1998.

Career

Business

Bhakta began his career working at the investment banking firm of Violy & Co. in New York City. Bhakta then founded Automovia, a technology startup specializing in the valuation of pre-owned vehicles. Thereafter, he led the Apex Vail

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

development project in Vail, Colorado.

''The Apprentice''

In the fall of 2004, Bhakta appeared on the second season of the business reality television show, ''

''. On the show, Bhakta propositioned Anna Kournikova and Donald Trump's assistant to go out with him on dates, and was fired by Trump on the ninth week of the show. His relationships with women became fodder for gossip columns such as '' New York Posts Page Six, and his frequent wearing of bow ties was credited with a surge in bow tie sales.

Political engagement and commentary

After appearing on ''The Apprentice'', Bhakta advocated Social Security reform in meetings with Congressional leadership. Bhakta was also a guest on MSNBC and Fox News and appeared on CNN's '' Crossfire''.

2006 Congressional campaign

With the support of

Thomas J. Ellis Thomas Jay "Tom" Ellis (born 14 July 1959, Abington, Pennsylvania) is a Pennsylvania public finance attorney. He served several terms as county commissioner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, one of the largest counties in Pennsylvania, before be ...

, the Republican chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, he sought and won the Republican nomination for the 13th congressional district. In the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, Bhakta lost to incumbent Democrat

by more than 30 points. Bhakta's campaign generated significant national media attention as a consequence of Bhakta's background on ''The Apprentice'', his attention-getting campaign maneuvers, and his reputation as a playboy. 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, for

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

. 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". On October 10, 2006, Bhakta illustrated the ease of crossing the United States-Mexico border by riding an elephant along the border for ninety minutes, accompanied by a six-man

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

band. Neither Bhakta nor the mariachi band broke the law by crossing the border, as they remained on private property along the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

in Texas. 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. The demonstration garnered national attention for Bhakta's campaign. Bhakta was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly, Rita Cosby,

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

, and John Gibson. "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." On November 7, 2006, the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'' 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 an abortion clinic founded by Schwartz.

WhistlePig Whiskey

Bhakta founded the

brand of rye whiskey, which was initially launched as a

non-distiller producer It has been common practice in the whisky industry for more than a century for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income.Canadian whiskey Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles.

from the Alberta Premium distillery owned by Fortune Brands in Alberta, Canada. Starting in 2007, he purchased land in Vermont, on which he built a new distillery and aging facility for the brand. The brand was officially launched in 2010. Bhakta was forced out of the WhistlePig, having been accused of fraud and mismanagement. He sold his shares and fully exited the company in 2019.

Bhakta Spirits

After leaving WhistlePig, Bhakta launched his new enterprise Bhakta Spirits in Shoreham, Vermont. In 2019, Bhakta negotiated purchase of a rare stock of aged Armagnac brandies while on vacation in

Gers Gers (; oc, Gers or , ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the ''Gersois'' and ''Gersoises'' in French. In 2019, it had a population of 191,377.

, 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 the Condom, 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. In 2019, Bhakta purchased the Whiteface Ranch in Indian River County, Florida for $5.9 million and began rum distilling operation on the site.

Purchase of Green Mountain College Campus

In August 2020, Bhakta purchased at auction the campus of

Green Mountain College Green Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Poultney, Vermont, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks. The college was affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offered a liberal a ...

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York (state), New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Gr ...

Personal life

Bhakta met Danhee Kim, a Columbia 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 in Vermont. The couple moved to Vero Beach, Florida in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhakta, Raj 1975 births Living people Businesspeople from Philadelphia Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni Participants in American reality television series Pennsylvania Republicans The Hill School alumni American financial businesspeople American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in Pennsylvania politics American people of Irish descent People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania American actor-politicians The Apprentice (franchise) contestants Asian conservatism in the United States People from Vero Beach, Florida