Billionaire Bill Ackman has escalated his dispute with Business Insider, saying its owner, Axel Springer, "cannot continue to own and control" the publication unless it overhauls its journalistic practices.
The demand follows a series of articles published by Business Insider about Ackman's wife, Neri Oxman, accusing her of plagiarism in her 2010 doctoral dissertation. Ackman contends that those claims are defamatory and misleading.
The controversy reached a new peak Friday as Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square, used social media to publicize a 77-page demand letter sent to Axel Springer executives, including CEO Dr. Mathias Döpfner. In the letter, Ackman accuses Business Insider of unethical journalism related to its coverage of Oxman and outlines his case for defamation, pointing to a broader battle over media ethics and the responsibility of news outlets in their reporting on public figures.
With the backing of Libby Locke, an attorney known for her victory in the Dominion Voting Systems case against Fox News, Ackman's confrontation with one of Europe's leading digital publishing houses poses a challenge to the publication's future operations.
"We are making an effort to avoid litigation by sending Axel Springer this demand letter in which we outline with particularity all of the facts around [Business Insider's] reporting of this matter, the factual inaccuracies in its reporting, Axel Springer's false statements about [Business Insider's] reporting, and a proposed resolution," Ackman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday morning that has been viewed over 250,000 times.
"If indeed Axel Springer is the professional ethical media company that I am told it is and it purports to be, it cannot continue to own and control Business Insider if it continues to operate as it has historically," Ackman said.
Ackman is demanding that Business Insider and Axel Springer take a series of actions to address what he called "libelous reporting" about his Oxman. The demands include correcting the allegedly false information, issuing public statements clarifying the inaccuracies, offering an apology to both Oxman and himself, and establishing a fund to compensate other victims of Business Insider's "inappropriate conduct" and deter similar actions in the future.
Notably, according to the letter, Oxman is waiving any personal compensation from the fund, aiming to prioritize resources for other potential victims.
Ackman's lawyer warns that failure to comply with the demands will expose Axel Springer and Business Insider to legal repercussions, as well as serve as further evidence of "actual malice" directed towards Ackman.
"If we can resolve this matter as we have proposed, we can avoid litigation, and more importantly, we can hopefully end Business Insider's unethical and unprofessional practices," Ackman said in his tweet.
Root Cause
The roots of the confrontation trace back to a series of investigative reports by Business Insider into the professional and academic conduct of Neri Oxman, an architect and former professor at MIT. Those articles, which began circulating in early January, scrutinized Oxman's academic work, suggesting instances of plagiarism.
Ackman, defending his wife, labeled the accusations as baseless and an attack not just on Oxman but on him as well due to his public stance on issues, including his support for Israel and his criticism of Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay.
Ackman's response, a series of long X posts throughout early 2024, which culminated in the detailed demand letter issued by Libby Locke, does much more than deny the claims made by Business Insider.
It presents what Ackman describes as "detailed empirical evidence" of the publication's alleged malfeasance. The letter includes extensive communication exchanges between Ackman and figures such as Henry Blodget, chairman and founder of Business Insider, and Döpfner, among others.
"It will not go unnoticed that the demand letter reads remarkably similarly to the pleadings of a lawsuit," Ackman said.
"If needed, we can convert the demand letter into a complaint and file a lawsuit, which I hope is unnecessary."
Correction, 2/23/24, 3 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information, and to remove references to Bill Ackman "demanding" Axel Springer either sell Business Insider or overhaul its practices.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Aj Fabino is a Newsweek reporter based in Chicago. His focus is reporting on Economy & Finance. Aj joined Newsweek ... Read more
