Billionaire Bill Ackman calls on Harvard's powerful board to resign as ‘once-great' university flounders
Bill Ackman has called on the entire board of the Ivy League college to resign, accusing its members of 'presiding over the destruction of the once-great institution' over a fiddling response to antisemitism on campus.
The 59-year-old hedge-fund billionaire, who for years has been at odds with his alma mater over its poor policing of Jew hatred, said 'only new leadership' of the Harvard Corporation, the university's governing body 'can fix this mess.'
Ackman, worth an estimated $9 billion, responded to an article on X that suggested Harvard is breaking the law by adopting DEI hiring practices.
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3 Ackman, a Harvard alum, has been vocal about the school's issues.
REUTERS
'Chair Penny Pritzker and the entire Harvard Corporation Board need to resign. They are presiding over the destruction of this once-great institution,' Ackman wrote.
The Post has approached Harvard for comment.
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Pritzker, whose father founded the Hyatt hotel chain, served in the second Obama administration as Commerce secretary, while her brother is the larger-than-life governor of Illinois, Democrat Party kingpin and staunch Donald Trump critic JB Pritzker.
Just over 10 days ago, Ackman had backed the Trump administration's move to freeze federal grants to Harvard, accusing the college's tax-exempt $53 billion endowment of being poorly managed.
Ackman has become an active user of Elon Musk's social media platform, regularly firing off missives to his 1.7 million followers about investing, Wall Street, and US politics.
3 Ackman accused leadership of failing to tackle hatred against Jews on campus.
AFP via Getty Images
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The staunch Israel supporter has repeatedly lambasted companies and colleges for failing to tackle anti-semitism after the Oct. 7 massacre that saw more than 1,200 innocent civilians killed by Palestinian terrorists.
Ackman urged now-deposed Harvard president Claudine Gay to stand down over the anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus, but she eventually resigned in January of last year over a plagiarism scandal.
The billionaire, who announced his resignation from the board of Universal Music Group on Wednesday, had also threatened to yank its stock exchange listing in Amsterdam after Jew-hating soccer thugs attacked fans of Israeli club Macabbi Tel Aviv.
3 Ackman demanded Claudine Gay, the first black president of Harvard, step down over anti-semitism on campus. She eventually quit over a plagarism scandal.
David McGlynn
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The Trump administration accuses the current Harvard leadership of failing to do enough to protect Jewish students, while it has opened a string of probes into the Cambridge, Mass. school.
Harvard is currently suing the US government over its decision to freeze federal funding.
The commander-in-chief previously said he wants to see Harvard stripped of its tax-exempt status as he presses for reforms at colleges he accuses of 'indoctrinating' students with 'radical left' ideas.
Ackman rose to prominence in 2012 with a disastrous $1 billion short of Herbalife, the dietary supplements firm, with rival activist Carl Icahn taking an opposite stance on the company's future.
The pair then had an infamous row live on CNBC over the issue the following year.
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