NPR

Combative billionaire Bill Ackman uses bare-knuckle boardroom tactics in a wider war

Hedge fund boss Bill Ackman has fought bitter battles in corporate boardrooms. He fights with lengthy public letters and for years. He's taking those tactics to Ivy League universities and the media.
As Bill Ackman goes after journalism organizations, higher education, and D.E.I., he is using many of the tactics he developed and relied on as an activist investor.

The billionaire Bill Ackman has dominated headlines lately for his bare-knuckle fights against Ivy League schools and the media.

He has called for the firing of top university heads, excoriating them for the way they responded to Israel-Hamas conflict, and condemned them for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

In long screeds on X, formerly known as Twitter, he has amplified plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay, who stepped down from Harvard's presidency under pressure. Most recently, Ackman has threatened to sue a news organization that published several pieces that accused his wife of plagiarism.

This is classic Ackman. He likes to fight, he digs in, and he doesn't give up.

In 2013, when a journalist asked him how long he.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
At Age 90, America's First Black Astronaut Candidate Has Finally Made It To Space
Ed Dwight, a former Air Force test pilot who was passed over to become an astronaut in the 1960s, described his flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard as "life changing."
NPR2 min read
Benedictine College Nuns Denounce Harrison Butker's Speech At Their School
"Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division," the sisters wrote of the NFL kicker's controversial commencement address.
NPR3 min read
In A Debate Over A School Name, It's Not Just Parents Who Are Attached To The Past
At the height of the racial reckoning, a school district in Virginia voted to rename two schools that had been previously named for Confederate generals. This month, that decision was reversed.

Related Books & Audiobooks