Bill Ackman Slams Business Insider’s German Parent Company for Double Down on ‘False Reporting’

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s spat with Business Insider escalated Thursday morning when he accused Business Insider’s German parent company, Axel Springer, of spreading what he said are false allegations printed by its subsidiary.

“Yesterday, Axel Springer doubled down on Business Insider’s false reporting. The result is that Axel Springer has now become a directly responsible party for this exposure in addition to BI,” Ackman said on X.

The spat began when Business Insider accused Ackman’s wife, academic Neri Oxman, of plagiarism.

Since the story’s publication, Ackman (pictured above) has publicly refuted it.

“We expect to dispute a substantial number of facts in the story. Unfortunately we were never given the opportunity to analyse [sic] the facts before Business Insider published its story 90 minutes after alleging plagiarism in a 6,900 word email. Once we have completed our analysis we will revert with corrections of the record,” he said Sunday.

In the outlet Puck News, an Axel Springer spokesman said Ackman was “completely losing it” after Ackman said the plagiarism allegations against his wife, who is Jewish, might be fueled by anti-semitism.

“That’s a very hard red line. Those are accusations that we’re going to make triple-sure are outrageous and not based in reality. Most people underestimated the way that Bill Ackman is completely losing it,” said spokesman Adib Sisani.

Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO of The Star News Digital Media Inc. and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, noted that Axel Springer is controlled by a conglomerate called KKR and that Axel Springer also owns Politico, which is known for its left-wing bias.

“KKR controls Axel Springer, which owns Business Insider AND Politico. The unfair treatment your wife is receiving from BI is no surprise to conservatives covered by Politico:” Leahy said.

Ackman received a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University. He found himself at the center of the recent plagiarism saga involving former Harvard President Claudine Gay.

In defense of his alma mater, Ackman frequently criticized Gay on his X account after proof of her plagiarism arose.

He said on January 1:

New whistleblower complaint alleging 50 instances of plagiarism by [Harvard] President Gay. The whistleblower raises serious issues about how the initial investigation into Gay’s work was conducted. The whistleblower levels credible accusations against the [Harvard] governing board in its apparent attempt to quash the initial inquiry into her work and its summarial dismissal of the allegations, relying on a still undisclosed three-person panel of ‘experts’ who assessed Gay’s work outside of the normal process for such investigations. The coverup is often worse than the crime. The media must dig deeper here. Gaygate is in need of greater sunlight.

Gay eventually resigned from her post at Harvard following the scandal, but only after major public outcry.

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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Bill Ackman” by Bill Ackman. Background Photo “Axel Springer Building” by GriRo2022. CC BY-SA 4.0.

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