The law of unintended consequences appears to be playing a major role, as billionaire hedge fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman takes on key academic figures and the media in defense of his wife, Neri Oxman.
It all began to unravel after Harvard University President Claudine Guy and the university's other deans fell into disgrace following a disastrous US Senate hearing into rampant anti-Semitism on their campus.
Jay stuck to her guns and was on the verge of defeating the threat of dismissal, when a series of reports of widespread alleged plagiarism surfaced, prompting her to finally resign in disgrace.
Bill Ackman, a former Harvard University donor, was one of the main actors in the campaign to oust Jay, and has focused heavily on allegations of plagiarism.
That's when Business Insider published two stories showing alleged evidence of plagiarism involving Ackerman's wife, former MIT professor, and designer and architect Neri Oxman.
Now, Business Insider's top executives and parent company are redoubling their reporting efforts, stating they are “satisfied with the fairness and accuracy of the stories.”
The New York Post reported:
“We stand by Business Insider and its newsroom,” said a spokesman for Axel Springer, the German media company that owns the magazine.
Business Insider and @axelsprinter The responsibility goes up and up and up.
This is what they consider to be fair, sound, accurate, well-documented and timely reports.
amazing. https://t.co/q67ycsTmbt
– Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 14, 2024
Axel Springer looked into articles about Neri Oxman after sharp complaints from Ackman, a Harvard graduate and CEO of the investment firm Pershing Square.
“He has campaigned publicly against Gay, who resigned earlier this month after criticism of her answers at a congressional hearing on anti-Semitism and accusations that her academic writings contained examples of inappropriate action.
Through its stories, Business Insider raised the idea of hypocrisy and the potential for widespread academic dishonesty, even among the nation's most prominent scholars.
Ackman's response raised questions about the outlet's independence.
“Business Insider and Axel Springer are getting more and more accountable,” Ackman said Sunday in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “This is what they consider to be fair, accurate, well-documented and timely reporting. 'Amazing'.”
Business Insider is toast.
You'll hear from us in a few weeks.
It will look something like this:
On my signal, I unleash hell https://t.co/uIRnxFnB4g
– Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 14, 2024
Business Insider's first article argued that while Ackman had used revelations of Gay's plagiarism to attack her, its journalists “found a similar pattern of plagiarism” by his wife Oxman — who had not been involved in any way in the controversy up to that point.
A second article alleged that Oxman, in her 2010 doctoral thesis at MIT, plagiarized sentences and paragraphs from Wikipedia, fellow researchers, and technical documentation.
“Akman complained that attacking someone's family in this way was a blow, and said Business Insider reporters gave him less than two hours to respond to the accusations. He suggested an anti-Zionist editor. Auksman was born in Israel. Business Leader Reached Out in Protest to Board Members In both Business Insider and Axel Springer.
Today (14), Barbara Bing, CEO of Business Insider, stated that “there was no unfair bias or personal, political and/or religious motives in pursuing the story.”
Ping said the stories were “newsworthy” and said Oxman, who has a public reputation as a prominent intellectual, was a fair subject.
Ackman vowed revenge “in a few weeks” to Business Insider, sharing on X a short video of Gladiator the film :''at my signal unleash hell'.
Read more:
Billionaire Bill Ackman calls on Harvard University Chairman Bennie Pritzker to resign along with the entire board
