Big money titans rally to back Bill Ackman against $2M ‘shakedown’ demand by ex-staffer

Billionaire hedge fund boss Bill Ackman says he’s the victim of a “shakedown” attempt by a former employee demanding a $2 million severance payment after alleging an “unsafe workplace” — prompting wealthy captains of industry to publicly back the moneyman.

Ackman recently laid out his case in a lengthy X post that quickly went viral, writing, “I am reaching out to the @X community for advice,” and vowing to “fight this nonsense to the end of the earth.”

He said last Saturday that he launched his family office, called Table, about 15 years ago, putting it in the hands of a friend he described as “someone that I trusted implicitly.” The office later “grew massively” as headcount and costs ballooned despite having a largely administrative role, he added.

Ackman said he remained mostly hands-off — conducting only an annual review — with the goal of having the firm “handle everything other than my day job so that I would have more time for my job and my family.”

As costs and turnover “ballooned,” he brought in his Harvard-educated nephew — who did a “superb job” turning around another investment, according to Ackman — to review operations, leading to layoffs of about a third of staff.

Most employees exited “professionally,” Ackman said — except for an in-house lawyer he called “Ronda” who rejected three months’ severance and demanded two years’ pay after working just two-and-a-half years.

Ackman said she refused to speak with him before the firm received a “threatening letter” alleging “harassment and gender discrimination” and an “unsafe work environment” — claims he called “interesting” given she oversaw compliance.

The letter alleged his nephew made “inappropriate and genderbased [sic]” remarks about a female employee’s age, appearance and family planning, and warned she would “seek all appropriate relief” in court if a deal isn’t reached.

Ackman said the issue had been raised internally and that he pushed for “workplace sensitivity training,” adding that accounts from others did not match the allegations and that “no one, as far as I understand, was offended,” adding there was “no evidence whatsoever” of broader problems.

He suggested the $2 million demand was opportunistic, noting “Ronda” was aware of a medical crisis his daughter was undergoing and his firm’s pending IPO, and blasting what he called “fake” discrimination claims as a costly “tax on the economy.”

Ackman stated that the lawyer was part of broader layoffs and had “too much horsepower” for the role, for which she got $1.05 million last year. He also hinted that she wanted to settle to avoid reputational damage.

The post struck a chord online, drawing support from some of the biggest names in tech and finance.

Chamath Palihapitiya, the Silicon Valley angel investor, likened the situation to a “tax” on wealthy executives.

“Destroy them!” Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of Palantir, wrote in response to Ackman’s account.

“Fight it,” urged tech and anti-aging entrepreneur Bryan Johnson. “This kind of extortion happens way more than people realize. It’s easy money for the accuser and the lawyers.”

Elizabeth Holmes, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in the Theranos scandal, wrote on X: “You have the luxury and duty to preserve the truth, no matter the cost.”

“This nonsense has to stop,” said Donald Trump Jr.

Ackman later said it was “reassuring that there appears to be a consensus” backing his decision to fight rather than settle.