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☆ Bill Ackman accuses Harvard of ‘election interference’ and Mark Zuckerberg wades into board battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Each January, Harvard University alumni are eligible to gather enough signatures to run for the university’s Board of Overseers. Mark Zuckerberg is throwing his support behind former Facebook exec Sam Lessin, a venture capitalist calling for significant reform to Harvard. Ackman, who led the campaign to oust former Harvard president Claudine Gay, is drawing attention to the tedious process of gathering signatures from alumni. “In the securities world, the SEC would come in an prosecute a company that made it this difficult to vote for an alternative slate,” Ackman wrote. It’s not more complicated than that.”During the virtual event on Friday, Zuckerberg said Lessin is the “type of person” he’d want governing Harvard.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Lessin, Lessin, Penny Pritzker, Bill Ackman, Ackman, Claudine Gay, Gay, “, ” Ackman, ” Harvard, Bill, ” Lessin, ”, they’ve, Zuckerberg, Josh Kushner, Alfred Lin, Mark, He’s, It’s, Sam, ” Zuckerberg Organizations: New, New York CNN, Harvard University, university’s, Harvard, Facebook, Harvard Corporation, SEC, “, CNN, Sequoia Locations: New York, Harvard, Israel

“We stand by Business Insider and its newsroom,” said a spokesman for Axel Springer, the German media company that owns the publication. With its stories, Business Insider raised both the idea of hypocrisy and the possibility that academic dishonesty is widespread, even among the nation's most prominent scholars. The business leader reached out in protest to board members at both Business Insider and Axel Springer. “Business Insider supports and empowers our journalists to share newsworthy, factual stories with our readers, and we do so with editorial independence,” Peng wrote. Business Insider would not say who conducted the review of its work.

Persons: Claudine Gay, ”, Axel Springer, Neri Oxman, Bill Ackman, Gay, Axel Springer's, ” Ackman, Ackman, “, Oxman, Barbara Peng, ” Peng, ” Harvard's, Nicholas Carlson, Carlson Organizations: MIT, Business, Harvard, Pershing, Oxman, The New York Times, Times, The Washington Post Locations: Israel

☆ Bill Ackman, taking a page from his Wall Street playbook, backs rebel candidates to join Harvard’s board
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The move by Ackman takes a page out of the playbook that made him successful on Wall Street. Normally, candidates for the 30-member Harvard Board of Overseers are nominated by the university’s alumni association. However, Ackman is now backing four write-in candidates, all graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe College, Harvard Business School or Law School. “We truly feel called to do this now,” Leslie, who has spent 20 years in the US military, told CNN in a phone interview. Calls for change at HarvardNew members are elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers each spring.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Ackman, Claudine Gay, Logan Leslie, ” Leslie, Harvard, Leslie, he’s, “, He’s, Julia Pollak, CNN she’s, ”, Pollak, ZipRecruiter . Pollak, ” Ackman, Zoe Bedell, Alec Williams, Penny Pritzker, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Sam Lessin, Pritzker, Lessin, ” Lessin Organizations: New, New York CNN, Harvard University, Ackman, Harvard, Ivy League, Radcliffe College, Harvard Business School, Law School, CNN, US Navy, ZipRecruiter, Reuters, of, Navy Seal, Navy Reserves, Harvard Corporation, Gay, Yale Locations: New York, Ackman, Northern, South Africa, Eastern, of Virginia

☆ Tesla shareholder calls on board to suspend Elon Musk for agreeing with antisemitic post
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Tesla’s board of directors should suspend Elon Musk for endorsing antisemitic views on social media, according to one investor in the electric vehicle company. Discovery and other major brands to halted advertising on X, which is owned by Musk. Tesla’s board should put Musk on leave for 30 to 60 days and require him to attend empathy training and/or therapy, Braakman argued. Not only is Musk viewed as the single most important person at Tesla, but he sits on the board of directors and is the largest individual shareholder. Tesla board is led by Denholm and includes James Murdoch, venture capitalist Ira Ehrenpreis, Musk’s younger brother Kimbal and Musk himself.

Persons: New York CNN —, Elon Musk, Jerry Braakman, Musk, ”, ” Braakman, Braakman, “, Tesla, Robyn Denholm, James Murdoch, Ira Ehrenpreis, Kimbal, Bill Ackman, ” Ackman Organizations: New, New York CNN, First American Trust, Whites, CNN, Warner Bros ., Musk, Media Matters, Denholm, Harvard Locations: New York, Santa Ana, Calif

☆ CEOs call on Harvard to name students linked to statement blaming Israel for Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said he wanted to ensure his company and others don’t “inadvertently hire” any students belonging to Harvard groups that signed the letter. Following a backlash to the statement, some of the student groups have since withdrawn their endorsements. Others warn that naming the students whose groups backed the statement could put the students in harms way and did not account for differences of opinion within the student groups. But Harvard President Claudine Gay issued a statement Tuesday saying “no student group – not even 30 student groups – speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”Harvard student groups’ statementThe controversy comes in response to a joint statement released by a coalition of Harvard student groups following the attacks by Hamas that have killed more than 1,000 Israelis and at least 14 American citizens. Another Harvard student, Danielle Mikaelian, said she resigned from the board of a group that signed the statement on Israel and didn’t have a chance to read it until it was too late.

Persons: Bill Ackman, ” Ackman, don’t “, “, Jonathan Neman, Ackman, Stephen Sullivan, Claudine Gay, –, ”, ” Jake Wurzak, shouldn’t, ” Wurzak, Mohini Tangri, Tangri, Danielle Mikaelian, didn’t, ” Mikaelian, Israel “, Winston, Strawn, “ Winston, Larry Summers, Summers, Bill Clinton, ” Gay, Jonathan Greenblatt, CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia, Sabrina Shulman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Billionaire, Harvard University, Pershing, Capital Management, Harvard, Dovehill Capital Management, Forbes . Harvard University, ” Harvard, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, Harvard Crimson, Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, Crimson, Harvard Law School, NYU Student Bar Association, NYU, Winston, Defamation League, ADL, Accenture, Adidas, NBA, CNBC Locations: New York, Israel, Gaza

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. authorities were preparing “material action” on Sunday to shore up deposits in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and stem any broader financial fallout from its sudden collapse, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Biden administration officials worked through the weekend to assess the impact of startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group’s failure on Friday, with a particular eye on the venture capital sector and regional banks, the sources said. REUTERS/Nathan FrandinoAnd amid increased withdrawals from other regional banks, U.S. officials are also keeping close watch on the wider sector. The S&P 500 regional banks index dropped 4.3% on Friday to end the week down 18%, its worst week since 2009. Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, PacWest Bank and Charles Schwab did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Takeaways from America’s second-largest bank failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Silicon Valley Bank’s 48-hour collapse led to the second-largest failure of a financial institution in US history. Its stunning, and seemingly rapid, fall is the largest shutdown of a US bank since Washington Mutual in 2008. “That’s because its depositors were withdrawing their money so fast that the bank was insolvent, and an intraday closure was unavoidable due to a classic bank run.”High interest rates led to its demiseTo combat rampant inflation, the central bank has been aggressively raising interest rates since 2022. When interest rates were near historical lows, the banks bought up on long-dated, seemingly low-risk Treasuries. Faced with these higher interest rates, loss of IPOs and a funding drought, SVB’s clients began pulling money out of the bank.

☆ Bank run fear: SVB plunges again, leading to calls for a bailout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of SVB (SIVB) were halted Friday morning after falling more than 60% in premarket trading. SVB, a relatively unknown bank outside of Silicon Valley, lends to higher-risk tech startups that are struggling as interest rates rise and venture capital money dries up. Essentially dealing with a bank run, SVB told investors it had to sell a portfolio of US Treasuries and $1.75 billion in shares at a loss to cover rapidly declining customer deposits. Widespread contagion fears may have calmed slightly Friday: Although SVB brought down mainstream bank stocks right along with it Thursday, most other bank stocks stabilized. When interest rates were near zero, large banks scooped up Treasuries and bonds.

London CNN —The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is rattling markets and raising uncomfortable questions: Will it undermine the broader banking system and start a new meltdown? A crucial lender to US technology startups, the bank came under pressure as Silicon Valley funding dried up, the result of an economic slowdown and rapidly rising interest rates. Bank stocks rattledFounded in 1983, SVB provided financing for almost half of US venture-backed technology and health care companies. SVB put the bonds up for sale as customers, facing leaner times, pulled their money from the bank. Silicon Valley Bank had about $209 billion in total assets and $175 billion in total deposits as of the end of last year, according to the FDIC.

☆ Gautam Adani’s business loses $50 billion in market value after short seller report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New Delhi CNN —The value of Gautam Adani’s business empire has crashed by more than $50 billion this week since Hindenburg Research, a US firm that makes money from short selling, published a blistering report accusing it of fraud. India’s Adani Group has denounced Hindenburg’s allegations as “baseless” and “malicious,” and it is considering legal action. But the sharp sell-off in shares, which began Wednesday, accelerated Friday after US hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman said he found the short seller’s report credible. Adani Enterprises is aiming to raise 200 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) by issuing new shares this month. The 60-year old tycoon founded the Adani group over 30 years ago.

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