Topline
Billionaire hedge fund founder and Columbia University graduate Leon Cooperman said Wednesday he would no longer donate to the Ivy League school after students held protests critical of Israel during its war with militant group Hamas—marking the latest billionaire to denounce student demonstrations and withhold donations over it.
Speaking on a Fox Business show Wednesday, billionaire hedge fund founder Leon Cooperman said he … [+]
Key Facts
Cooperman criticized the pro-Palestinian protests held by Columbia students while speaking on Fox Business’s The Claman Countdown on Wednesday, saying he thinks college students “have sh** for brains.”
Unless he sees a change, Cooperman said he will “suspend my giving” and donate to “other organizations,” adding Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and only reliable American ally in the Middle East.
Hundreds of students at Columbia participated in a walk-out Wednesday to protest Israel amid its war against Hamas, including a blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, weeks after several student groups urged Columbia to cut ties with Israel, according to student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.
Cooperman also called for the firing of Professor Joseph Massad, who teaches modern Arab politics and intellectual history and published an article on October 8 describing Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel as “awesome” and “astounding.”
There is currently a student-started petition circulating calling for Massad’s firing from Columbia that has garnered more than 59,000 signatures.
Earlier this week, Columbia announced it was postponing its annual Giving Day fundraiser amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying “we decided that this is not the appropriate time to move forward with Columbia Giving Day,” CNN reported.
Forbes has reached out to Columbia and Massad for comment.
Pro-Israel demonstrators sing a song during a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, … [+]
Big Number
About $50 million. That’s how much Cooperman told Fox Business he has donated to Columbia in the years since he graduated from its business school in 1967. Forbes has reached out to Columbia University to see if it could verify Cooperman’s donations.
Tangent
At least two other billionaires have vowed to stop giving money to elite universities—or caused other stirs—over similar controversies. At the University of Pennsylvania, billionaire Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan accused the university of antisemitism and called on donors to “close their checkbooks’ until the school’s president and board chair resign. Specifically, Rowan expressed frustration that Penn hosted a Palestinian literature festival in September, saying speakers at the festival “advocated ethnic cleansing of Jews.” At Harvard University, billionaire Bill Ackman publicly criticized a group of students who released a letter blaming Israel for Hamas’ attack earlier this month, calling for their names to be released so they don’t get hired. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also announced he would no longer participate in fellowships at Harvard due to the school’s response, or lack thereof, to what he called “dangerous anti-Semitism” by students. More than a dozen large Harvard donors told the New York Times they had a right to weigh in on the school’s response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Cooperman to be worth $2.8 billion as of Thursday, making him the 1,056th wealthiest person in the world. Cooperman worked in Goldman Sachs’ asset management division and founded hedge fund Omega Advisors in 1991. He has said he plans to give most of his fortune away and has been moving his assets into his charitable foundation.
Key Background
Israel and Hamas have been at war since the Gaza-based militant group attacked Israel in early October, killing about 1,400 Israelis and taking hundreds of hostages. Since the start of the war, more than 6,000 Palestinians have been reported dead by the Hamas-run Health Ministry—though there are doubts around that number as it is provided by the militant group—and thousands more have been injured. As of Thursday, Israel was reportedly still preparing for a ground invasion into Gaza, though officials agreed to delay the invasion for several days to allow for more time to recover hostages and so the U.S. military can move defenses to the region, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/10/26/billionaire-leon-cooperman-cutting-off-donations-to-columbia-over-student-protests-of-israel-hamas-war/