Business Insider is facing a lawsuit from Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, after the publication accused his wife, Neru Oxman, of plagiarism in her doctoral thesis from 2010.
Oxman, a renowned designer and ex-MIT professor, was alleged to have copied sentences and paragraphs from various sources, including Wikipedia, other scholars and technical documents, in her 330-page dissertation at MIT.
Business Insider published two articles on Jan. 4 and 5, exposing the plagiarism by Oxman and linking it to the recent resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay, who was also accused of academic dishonesty in her writing.
Ackman, who had been vocal in his criticism of Gay and her handling of a congressional hearing on antisemitism, said Business Insider was hypocritical and defamatory in its reporting on his wife.
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‘I mean lawsuit, to be clear’
He said he was given less than two hours to respond to the allegations and that an Israel-born editor at the publication was biased against Oxman.
{{/usCountry}}He said he was given less than two hours to respond to the allegations and that an Israel-born editor at the publication was biased against Oxman.
{{/usCountry}}He also said the articles caused his wife “severe emotional harm” and could have “literally killed” her without the support of her loved ones.
“She has suffered severe emotional harm,” he wrote on X, “and as an introvert, it has been very, very difficult for her to make it through each day.”
Ackman said his wife acknowledged four missing quotation marks and one omitted footnote in her dissertation, but denied any intentional plagiarism.
He threatened to sue Business Insider and its parent company, Axel Springer, for their “false claims and defamation.”
“By complaint I mean lawsuit, to be clear,” Ackman said on Monday.
He also posted a scene from the movie “Gladiator” with the quote “At My Signal, Unleash Hell” on X, implying that he was ready for a legal battle with Business Insider.
Business Insider, however, stood by its stories and said they were factual, well-documented and newsworthy.
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The publication’s CEO, Barbara Peng, issued a statement on Sunday, saying there was no personal, political or religious agenda behind the stories and that they were done with editorial independence.
“There was no unfair bias or personal, political and/or religious motivation in pursuit of the story,” Peng said.
“Business Insider supports and empowers our journalists to share newsworthy, factual stories with our readers, and we do so with editorial independence,” Peng added.