Wall Street Billionaire Bill Ackman Helped Oust Harvard’s President. Now He Is Going After MIT

Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman was one of the most outspoken alumni calling for the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay for being soft on antisemitism and plagiarizing.

Now, his wife, Neri Oxman, is apologizing amid accusations of her own plagiarism while a doctoral student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Wall Street Journal reported. Oxman is an architect, former MIT professor and founder of tech/design firm Oxman,

Ackman is lashing out at MIT, vowing to scour the work of its faculty, including President Sally Kornbluth, for plagiarism. In addition, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital is calling for MIT Chairman Mark Gorenberg's resignation, suggesting in a tweet on X that he may be guilty of tax fraud involving a nonprofit.

Gorenberg is the founder and managing director of the Silicon Valley venture capital fund Zetta Venture Partners. Attempts by The Messenger to contact Gorenberg for comment were unsuccessful.

MIT responded to The Messenger's request for comment without addressing Ackman's pledge to hunt down plagiarists. The university said: its leaders "remain focused on ensuring the vital work of the people of MIT continues, work that is essential to the nation’s security, prosperity and quality of life."

Ackman implied that the accusations against Oxman were in retaliation for his campaign to fire Gay. “You know that you struck a chord when they go after your wife, in this case, my love and partner in life,” Ackman said in a post on X, adding that “part of what makes her human is that she makes mistakes, owns them, and apologizes when appropriate.”

Oxman's apology followed a Business Insider article citing instances of plagiarism. "I regret and apologize for these errors," Oxman said in a post on X.

Business Insider alleged that Oxman directly lifted sections from Wikipedia in her dissertation and failed to use quotation marks when citing the work of others. Both Oxman and Ackman said she had insufficient time to respond to the Business Insider story.

After Gay’s resignation, Ackman took to X criticize the decision allowing her to remain on Harvard's faculty, stating “there would be nothing wrong with her staying on faculty if she didn’t have serious plagiarism issues. Students are forced to withdraw for much less.”