Bill Ackman has made billions of dollars — and a name for himself — as an activist investor, buying up stock to push for change at companies. In this wide-ranging conversation with author and business ethics professor Alison Taylor, Ackman discusses how he's bringing his activism into the social and political spheres — and shares his thoughts on free speech, his notoriously long posts on X, the conversation around Harvard and DEI and more. If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas: https://ted.com/membership Follow TED! X: https://twitter.com/TEDTalks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ted Facebook: https://facebook.com/TED LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world's leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit https://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Watch more: https://go.ted.com/billackman https://youtu.be/bkCpQk_K_jg TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com #TED #TEDTalks #business
ADVERTISEMENT
The interviewer generally did a horrible job with this interview. Bill is pushing back which is great
That interviewer speaks in a very annoying way.
What an activist. Wants to shut others down using his power while taking control of our institutions for self serving reasons.
We don’t want to hear what billionaires think is best for us
What an incredible activist. Who would’ve thought that silencing anti-genocidal voices using dark money tactics was activism? Not me!
How much did he pay TED Talk for this PR stunt??? That's my real question!
I really was expecting a different sort of investor "activism"... I thought I would learn more about impact investing, social enterprises and how to look at profitability from a different perspective. I don't know what this is.
Bill handled that interview brilliantly. His laser like focus on truth makes him a superb natural mentor. I’ve learnt a lot from him about life in general. He’s an impressive investor too.
The Lex Fridman podcast recently featured investor Bill Ackman, who offered profound insights, epitomizing the spirit of capitalism. His expertise in finance demonstrates how it can be harnessed to build or rejuvenate valuable businesses that enhance society. Value-Adding Investor
Many of you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the term "Activist Investor". While Bill never put it explicitly, an activist investor is not an investor that is also a traditional activist like a social activist, climate activist etc. an "Activist investor" is an investor that uses their invested stake to influence positive, value driven gains in a company's core business model and operations. The activism is being active in managing and influencing the company. This is compared to passive investing which is where you buy a stock and let a company grow on it's own. An activist investor takes active stake in improving the business, typically by bringing in their own expertise and knowing how to grow a promising business model that is struggling on their own. An activist investor is not a social justice warrior.
the interviewer needs to lower her voice
The interviewer apparently skipped the part of speech class where you learn not to lead your talks by body movements and swinging your arms around
What a shame on you , Tedtalk! I am expecting someone who is wise to give a talk , not some billionaire bully who is behind the resignation of Howard president.
I learned a lot in the past by listening to B.A. I do tend to write down in a notebook some of his thoughts.
Very annoying and awkward interviewer. Makes me cringe...
Clapping FOR free speech at Ted conference! Is this the turn in the pendulum?
Has TED finally realised how important diversity of political opinion is? Funny he was talking about great institutions that lost their way. TED got lost around 2016
ackman for president
So much respect for Mr. Ackman; a brilliant investor who embraces discussing the current events of the day, and sharing his thoughts, along with inviting discussion. Not easy in his world! I have learned so much about investing and improving my own portfolio, just by listening to him.
Sort comments by newest if you want to see real opinions 😂