Billionaire Bill Ackman donates £300m to brain research centre after daughter suffers haemorrhage
American billionaire Bill Ackman will donate $400m to brain research after his daughter suffered a haemorrhage that left her in a coma. The investor, whose Perishing Square hedge fund is one of the most famous investment management firms in the world, announced plans to donate the vast sum to a newly established research institute named [...]
Billionaire Bill Ackman has pledged $400 million to a newly established brain research institute in honor of his daughter, who suffered a severe haemorrhage as a young woman. After his daughter Lucy suffered a stroke in New York earlier this year, leaving her in a coma and unable to speak, walk or see, Ackman and his wife Neri Oxman founded the Ackman Oxman Institute (AOI) to focus on brain research, rehabilitation, recovery and longevity.
The institute, set to be located in a 400,000 square foot Manhattan building currently housing Saturday Night Live studios, will prioritize patient outcomes over academic research. Ackman's donation, made through 10 million shares of his hedge fund Perishing Square worth approximately $400 million, represents one of the largest single philanthropic gifts of the year.
Despite its non-profit status, Ackman promises that the AOI will have "highly commercial instincts," featuring a venture capital arm to fund and commercialize any potential treatments or medications developed.
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