Talk:Bill Ackman

Rittenhouse acquital prediction

The first paragraph of Personal views reads "In 2021, Ackman supported Kyle Rittenhouse's self-defense claim while the criminal trial was ongoing. Ackman's prediction of an acquittal proved to be accurate." This is confusing, because the first sentence only mentions Ackman's support of Rittenhouse, while the second sentence presumes the reader knows that Ackman predicted Rittenhouse's acquittal. I don't believe that supporting a defendant necessarily implies a prediction that the defendant wins. This could be rewritten as "In 2021, Ackman supported Kyle Rittenhouse's self-defense claim while the criminal trial was ongoing and predicted that Rittenhouse would win his case, which later proved to be accurate." 98.118.9.141 (talk) 19:48, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

The source doesn't say it "proved to be accurate" so neither the current form nor the suggestion is good. I will update it to accurately WP:STICKTOSOURCE. Zenomonoz (talk) 22:10, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

Honestly, not sure it's really relevant or due. He gave his opinion on one of the top news stories at the time. WP:NOTNEWS. It was covered at the time, but not enduring, like his involvement post the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Per WP:BRD, will remove. Longhornsg (talk) 22:29, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

Ongoing plagiarism fiasco

I'm not an extended confirmed editor, so posting here. I think the page should mention his accusations of plagiarism and his recent responses to accusations of plagiarism against his wife.

Edit: I believe that this topic should be included since he has become notable recently (but seems to be WP:SUSTAINED) due to his ongoing accusations (e.g., Vox article title "Who is Bill Ackman and why is he so mad?"). _{too_much} curiosity (talk) 04:05, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Infobox image

Hello again. In January, the infobox image was changed from File:Valeant Pharmaceuticals' Business Model (26410186110) (cropped 2).jpg to File:Valeant Pharmaceuticals' Business Model (cropped).jpg. I would like to request a revert to the previously used image, which I believe is more neutral and does not give an unfair impression as the new photo does. Do other editors agree that a headshot might be preferable here? Thanks, FMatPSCM (talk) 23:43, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Realizing I did not include Template:Edit COI, which I've added for editor review. Thanks, FMatPSCM (talk) 17:00, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

You're right in that headshots are preferred, but the former image is a side profile which doesn't fully show the face and was blurrier. I've cropped the current image, which is clearer and does show the full face, into a headshot. Not sure what your neutrality concerns are. ---- Patar knight - ^chat/_{contributions} 01:17, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Personal views request

Hello. I would like to address some text in the Personal views section. Specifically, the following text, which is not about Bill Ackman and uses sources that do not mention him:

• Israel estimates 1,139 people were killed in Hamas's October 7th attack, including 695 Israeli civilians, 36 of whom were children, 373 members of the security forces, and 71 foreigners; between October 7th and the Post's report, the Gaza Ministry of Health estimated that IDF attacks had killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

References

I propose removing this text, as well as the following paragraph, which is mostly about a video call that Bill Ackman was not a part of and that was held after Bill Ackman was no longer participating in the group chat:

• Members of the 2023-2024 WhatsApp group chat also held a video call in April 2024 with New York City Mayor Eric Adams in an effort to, according to reporting by The Washington Post, "pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus" to shut down criticism of Israel's offensive military operations in Gaza, which many campus protesters, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, civil servants, and governments around the world have alleged to be genocide. During the video call, group members discussed making political donations to Adams. A spokesperson for Ackman said he had not participated in the group chat since January 10, 2024, and that although Ackman "likes and is supportive of the Mayor," he had never spoken to Adams about the Columbia protests or donated to Adams's campaign..

I propose removal of this text, too, or at least a major trim to keep the article about the subject and not a WhatsApp group. It does not seem appropriate to lead with so much detail, only to confirm at the end that the article subject was not present.

References

Thank you, FMatPSCM (talk) 19:54, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: Too sensitive for a COI editor. Also, the topic of the this request (the war in Gaza) is considered contentious here. Quetstar (talk) 15:14, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Billboard trucks

Hi again. Francis here, representing Pershing Square Capital Management. I've introduced myself previously but some of my past requests have been archived. I find some of the recent changes to this article concerning, so I'd like to flag a few issues and share sources I think are helpful to make this page more accurate.

I'd like to start with this text: "Ackman sponsored several billboard trucks to drive near Harvard’s campus and display the names and photos of Harvard students who signed the letter. The University’s Hillel, its Jewish student organization, condemned the billboards and Ackman's attempts to intimidate pro-Palestinian students."

This is based on CNN, which does not confirm the text. The Guardian has confirmed that a group completely unrelated to Ackman took responsibility for the trucks. This source may also be helpful. I am asking editors to please remove this inaccurate text. Thank you again, FMatPSCM (talk) 16:26, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

 Done by another editor. The statements do appear to be incorrect. I've also removed another mention of the incorrect assignment of blame for the doxxing to Ackman elsewhere. ---- Patar knight - ^chat/_{contributions} 00:28, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

Oligarch

Next, I would like to address the text, "Critics of Ackman have called him an oligarch, basing accusations on his use of market manipulation and use of his wealth to push for his own policy preferences, particularly with respect to Israel." Ackman is not an oligarch, by definition, and this text is biased, inaccurate and not based on quality news sources whatsoever. I would ask editors to remove this text.

Thank you, FMatPSCM (talk) 16:29, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

The Cambridge Dictionary defines "oligarch" as "someone who is extremely rich and powerful, especially a person from Russia who became rich after the end of the former Soviet Union". Ackman clearly meets this definition as he is rich and the article notes how he has used his influence to wield political power especially after the Israel-Hamas war. Being Russian is not necessary for this definition. In any case, both of the articles are from reliable sources and explicitly use the term, so arguing over a definition is mostly moot. If there are reliable sources that dispute the usage of the term, we would discuss the inclusion of a rebuttal, but at this point there's no need for wholesale removal of the paragraph. -- Patar knight - ^chat/_{contributions} 00:08, 13 November 2024 (UTC)