Tucker Carlson called out Bill Ackman’s credentials – calling him an unimpressive and “useless” billionaire – and so the American hedge fund CEO brought receipts and lowered the boom in a 2000-plus word, late-night post on X.
Carlson was one of many speakers at this weekend’s Turning Point USA event in Tampa, Florida. From the dais, Carlson suggested Ackman was connected to Jeffrey Epstein and railed against the emergence of hedge-fund billionaires, saying: “How do you come to a place where some of the least impressive, most useless people who have no actual skills become billionaires? How did Bill Ackman get $9 billion? A pretty impressive guy? I know him. No.”
Ackman, the investor and (sometimes) Trump supporter best known as founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is ever methodical in his outspokenness – and penned a thorough response late Friday night. He walked through his start in business, acknowledging advantages afforded him by successful parents, and went step-by-step through his rise to extraordinary wealth.
Then it got personal.
“Tucker says he knows me,” Ackman wrote. “In short, we have had only two interactions.”
He said that five years ago, Carlson claimed on his Fox News show that Ackman committed market manipulation, “and he did so without calling me to check the facts.” Ackman said the two later spoke by phone, with Carlson promising to “clear the record” on-air.
“Unfortunately, he did not keep his word,” Ackman said. “Six months or so later, he again made the same false accusation on one of his shows. I think he largely did so to taunt me into coming on.”
Ackman said he used to enjoy “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” but “now he has gone off the reservation, in particular about Iran, Israel, and the Middle East. Some say his politics relate to where his business’ funding comes from and some say he just doesn’t like Jews.”
In any case, Ackman said, “Tucker owes me an apology. I know I am not going to get one because he is not man enough to care about the truth. At least, that’s been my experience with him.”
Ackman noted that Carlson is himself a wealthy man, adding that “it would be great for him to explain how he is contributing to society with the work that he does. While useless billionaires are bad, harmful millionaires are definitively worse.”
H/T to CitizenFreePress
