Ackman Scolded Over DEI Views at Closed-Door Milken Session

  • Panelists and audience confront investor at invite-only event
  • In statement, Ackman asks people to consider his past writings

Bill Ackman 

Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
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While money managers were inking deals, talking about AI and hanging on Elon Musk’s every word at this week’s premier business conference in Beverly Hills, a passionate debate over diversity was taking place behind closed doors.

In a small side room, roughly 40 people, including some of Wall Street’s most senior executives of color, crowded around a rectangular array of tables for an invitation-only panel and confronted hedge fund manager Bill Ackman for his attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives, according to five attendees.