Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has condemned the group behind billboard trucks that have been going around the Harvard campus displaying messages to shame university president Claudine Gay.
The Ivy League has been swarmed by billboard trucks replaying Gay’s remarks to Congress amid backlash over her claim that calling for genocide of Jews on campus doesn’t necessarily break the rules.
While Ackman has led the campaign to oust Gay, he said on Wednesday he does not support the trucks, which he called ‘unfair’ and ‘an insult.’
The investor wrote: ‘Whoever is behind the so-called doxxing trucks at Harvard needs to stop this now. We can agree or disagree with Harvard, and we can support or criticize President Gay’s leadership. But to disrupt her home with these trucks is unfair to her and her family, and an insult to all of us. Please stop. Thank you.’
A conservative group, Accuracy in Media, has taken credit for the trucks, which were seen outside the Harvard President’s House in Cambridge this week – as The Harvard Corporation said it would stand behind Gay despite the backlash.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman revealed he has a longstanding issue with Harvard over a $10million stock donation
A conservative group, Accuracy in Media, has taken credit for the trucks, which were seen outside the Harvard President’s House in Cambridge this week
The trucks have displayed messages such as: ‘Claudine Gay REFUSES to protect Jewish students,’ ‘Claudine Gay, it’s time to RESIGN’ and ‘Claudine Gay: the best friend Hamas ever had.’
Ackman’s statement comes after Ackman revealed a longstanding issue with Harvard over its selling $85M worth of stock he donated for $10M – but denied that it’s the reason he’s calling his alma mater out on anti-Semitism.
The billionaire responded to an article by The New York Times titled, ‘Bill Ackman’s Campaign Against Harvard Followed Years of Resentment’, which claims his ‘long-held personal grudges’ against the school are partly behind his campaign to oust Gay.
Ackman called the premise of the story ‘entirely false and misleading’ as he took to social media to clarify the details behind one of the alleged grudges outlined by the Times.
‘I have held no resentment toward Harvard ever. And I have none now,’ he wrote. ‘The story gives the impression that my motivation for raising issues about antisemitism at Harvard and President Gay were due to prior grievances. This is entirely false and misleading.’
Ackman continued to explain that he donated the $10million stock when he was low on liquid cash while going through a divorce and as his investment firm Pershing Square ‘had gone through a large drawdown.’
Harvard President Claudine Gay at the congressional hearing on antisemitism on campus
Ackman said he wanted to support the school when the possibility of recruiting renowned economist Raj Chetty emerged
However, Ackman said he wanted to support the school when the possibility of recruiting renowned economist Raj Chetty emerged.
He wrote: ‘It was important to me that I could fulfill our long-term plan to recruit him despite my difficult personal circumstances at the time…. I knew Harvard could find the money from someone else, but I wanted to fulfill my original plans for the Foundation of Human Behavior initiative.
‘It was important enough to me that I agreed to give Harvard stock in a private venture-backed company that I expected would be worth many multiples of that value in only a few years.
‘My agreement with Harvard provided that if and when the company went public in a few years, if the stock was worth more than $15m, I would have the right to allocate the excess realized value above $15m to the Harvard-related initiative of my choosing. In the event the stock was worth less than $10m, I committed to make up the difference with an additional donation to the University.’
But Ackman claims that when he called Harvard in January 2021, after learning the stock was now worth $85million, he discovered that Harvard had sold the stock in March 2020 at a massive discount – $10million.
‘I was not happy as you might expect. To make matters worse, none of HMC, the administration, or even my development officer had the courtesy to apologize. I heard from no one by email, phone or otherwise,’ he added.
Ackman said then-Harvard president Larry Bacow eventually ‘apologized and promised to rectify the situation’ – but never did ‘despite Ackman’s periodic reminders.’
He concluded: ‘To be extremely clear, my advocacy on behalf of antisemitism, free speech on campus, and my concerns with DEI at Harvard have absolutely nothing to do with my unfortunate experience as a donor to the University.
I am extremely grateful for the education I received at Harvard College and HBS. I am just trying to make sure that current students and those in the future have the same opportunity to learn at Harvard that I had.’
The Times’ article on Ackman came hours after The Harvard Corporation announced that Gay would keep her job despite calls for her ousting.
Ackman claimed sources told him the school did not want to be seen as bowing down to him after he wrote an open letter to the board demanding Gay’s firing.
The Harvard Corporation – the college’s executive board – said in its statement: ‘Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.’
The board acknowledged Gay’s mistakes in handling anti-Semitism on campus, adding: ‘So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the University’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation.
‘Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the University’s fight against antisemitism.’
The Harvard Crimson was first to report Gay would keep her job despite widespread calls for her to resign from the political and business worlds after her disastrous appearance on Capitol Hill last week where she refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews constituted harassment.
The board continued: ‘In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay. At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated.
‘Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.’
Gay, the school’s first black president, was appointed to the post in July 2023. She sparked fury during a congressional hearing last week after she said that it depended on context whether calls for the genocide of Jews at Harvard constituted harassment and violated the rules.
She was subsequently forced to issue an apology following the hearing that cost University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill her job over a similar response.