Billionaire Bill Ackman Likely to Endorse Trump: Source

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is considering endorsing Donald Trump as the former U.S. president seeks to return to the White House, a source familiar with the matter said.

Ackman plans to announce which candidate he will endorse on the social media network X, the source said, confirming an earlier report by the Financial Times. He has 1.2 million followers on X.

It would mark a change from 2021. Following the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, Ackman wrote on the social media platform that Trump should "resign and apologize to all Americans."

Ackman's firm Pershing Square Capital Management manages $18 billion in assets, most of it in a fund that is publicly listed in Europe.

Last week Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said he would support Trump in the U.S. election. Schwarzman said he was motivated by "the dramatic rise of antisemitism" in the country and concerns about the current state of the economy, immigration and foreign policies.

Other money managers have not yet publicly announced their endorsements. Citadel's founder Ken Griffin said earlier this month that he had not donated money to Trump's election campaign and that he would wait to see who the former U.S. leader picks as his running mate.