E-Paper
Who is Bill Ackman? Investor accused of making ‘threats' to Charlie Kirk during 'intervention' weeks before murder
Candace Owens alleged “threats were made” to Charlie Kirk during an “intervention” with Bill Ackman weeks before the murder. Ackman has responded to the claims.
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, podcaster and conservative influencer Candace Owens has claimed that the Turning Point USA founder was pressured to visit Israel by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Owens accused Ackman of making “threats” to Kirk during a high-stakes “intervention” in the Hamptons, weeks before the murder. Ackman, however, has denied the allegations, saying they are “totally false.”
“I know that Charlie was offered a ton of money in this moment. A ton of money,” Owens said in a video that has surfaced. She added that Kirk, however, had a change of heart. She also claimed that Seth Dillon, the CEO of Babylon Bee, was present at the lunch meeting.
Kirk, 31, was allegedly shot dead by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson on September 10 during an appearance at a campus event in Utah. The shooting happened around 12:20 pm local time during a student Q&A at UVU in Orem, per a statement from Utah Valley University (UVU).
Bill Ackman denies the allegations
In a lengthy X post, Ackman denied the allegations and slammed Owens for “slandering” him. “This afternoon @RealCandaceO slandered me by accusing me of 'staging an intervention' with Charlie Kirk in which 'threats were made' with respect to his supposed 'evolving stance' on Israel at an event I hosted in the Hamptons. Candace also intimated that I 'blackmail[ed]' Charlie,” wrote Ackman.
Ackman went on to blast influencers trying to “monetize” Kirk’s tragic death, and said he would like to clear his name even though it “pains” him to “drive more traffic to” Owens’ program.
“For the record, at no time have I ever threatened Charlie Kirk, Turning Point or anyone associated with him,” Ackman said. “I have never blackmailed anyone, let alone Charlie Kirk. I have never offered Charlie or Turning Point any money in an attempt to influence Charlie's opinion on anything. In fact, my interactions with Charlie Kirk have been extremely cordial, albeit limited, regretfully so, as I was very impressed by him and his work and I will sadly never see him again.”
Ackman explained that even though he did not agree with Kirk on all issues, he admired the Turning Point USA founder “for his intelligence, vast knowledge about religion, and his willingness to take on all comers in open mic sessions on campus and otherwise.” He added that he even reposted some of Kirk’s video clips and posts.
“I connected with Charlie when he DM'd me in late May of this year and expressed interest in meeting me. In light of our respective schedules, we were unable to find a time to meet in person so we scheduled a zoom on June 11th,” wrote Ackman.
He continued, “On the zoom, he explained to me that conservatives, in particular, young conservatives were getting tired of defending Israel, and this was very concerning to him. I asked him how I could learn more, and he suggested that it might be useful to convene a group of young conservative influencers on a host of topics that could include Israel to get a better sense of how the conservative community was thinking about Israel and other relevant issues of concern to young people.”
Ackman added, “On the zoom, Charlie also said that his open mic conversations on campus were very effective in addressing issues on the minds of students, but he was only one person with limited bandwidth. He suggested that recruiting a group of junior Charlie Kirk's who could host open mic sessions on college campuses would be an effective way to encourage debate on a host of issues, an approach he believed to be worthy of consideration, and better enable students to get to the truth.”
Ackman further said that they scheduled a few conference calls and zooms with Kirk and Turning Point USA staff owing to his interest in learning more. “In addition to getting a better sense of what and where young conservatives were on various issues, Charlie thought doing so might enable him to identify potential candidates who could launch their own campus tours and carry forth his approach to dialogue,” he added.
“We chose the afternoon of August 4th to the afternoon of the 5th for the convening, and Charlie and members of my team worked to put together an invitation list. I offered to host the sessions in Bridgehampton (and cover the costs) so that I could attend some of the sessions as I was working from there at that time,” added Ackman.
Ackman said that Kirk went on to send out the invitations, which were accepted by about 35 influencers. At the time, Kirk estimated that the influencers who attended had over 100 million followers collectively.
The topics for the meeting were
- The Economic Future of America
- The Cultural Landscape of Dating and Marriage
- The Convergence of East and West
- Mamdani, the New Threat to America
Ackman said that on Kirk’s request, he moderated the Economic Future discussion and also hosted a Q&A session with the participants. He added that although he wanted to attend the Convergence of East and West panel, he could not as he had a board meeting. This topic “included a discussion of immigration, value systems, the U.S. approach to foreign policy and Israel,” Ackman said.
“Those that attended this session said that the Israel discussion was similar to the other sessions with the attendees expressing varying points of view as well as explaining the views of their followers,” wrote Ackman. “Some participants were critical of Israel and U.S. support for Israel, and others were supportive.”
Ackman explained that the sessions were punctuated by meals, and he attended one of the group lunches and a group dinner with Kirk and others.
“At the end of the event, I sat with Charlie and members of my team and we discussed the events of the convening. Charlie believed that he had identified a number of potential Turning Point ambassadors who could launch open mic events on campus and that he would follow up with them. We agreed to keep in touch thereafter,” Ackman said.
“We corresponded by text thereafter over the next few weeks on a range of topics that did not include Israel, and the next thing I knew, he was gone,” he added. “In short, this was not an 'intervention' to 'blackmail' Charlie Kirk into adopting certain views on Israel. It was nothing of the sort.”
Who is Bill Ackman?
Ackman has served as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. (“Pershing Square”) since it was founded in 2003, He has also served as Chairman of the board of directors of Pershing Square Holdco GP, LLC since June 2024, and as Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (“HHH”) since May 2025.
Before founding Pershing Square, Ackman notably co-founded and co-managed Gotham Partners Management Co., LLC (“Gotham Partners”), which was an investment adviser that managed public and private equity hedge fund portfolios. Before he formed Gotham Partners, Ackman was a principal with Ackman Brothers & Singer, Inc., which is now known as the Ackman Ziff Real Estate Group. There, he "arranged and structured equity and debt financing for real estate investors and developers,” according to Pershing Square’s website.
The website adds, “Mr. Ackman also serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, Ltd. He is co-trustee of The Pershing Square Foundation, part of Pershing Square Philanthropies, which he founded in 2006 to bet on innovative leaders solving humanity’s big societal, environmental, and health challenges.”
In the past, Ackman served as Chairman of the Board of HHH, as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, Ltd and as a member of the board of directors of Universal Music Group N.V.
He earned a Master in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, and also a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Harvard College.
