{"id":1693792,"date":"2026-09-18T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1693792"},"modified":"2026-09-17T21:59:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:59:57","slug":"bill-ackman-launch-brain-research-institute-manhattan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/09\/bill-ackman-launch-brain-research-institute-manhattan\/","title":{"rendered":"After a Family Health Crisis, Bill Ackman Takes a Startup Approach to Brain Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bill
Bill\u00a0Ackman is putting $400 million into a new New York brain research institute. Patrick T. Fallon \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In February, <\/span>Bill Ackman<\/span> got a <\/span>middle-of-the-night call<\/span><\/a> from his oldest daughter: she had walked into her sister\u2019s Brooklyn apartment and found her collapsed on the floor. First responders did not know what was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a massive brain hemorrhage\u2014the result of a congenital weakness no one knew she had. She survived, but only after spending weeks in a coma, and she is still relearning how to walk and speak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has got a long way to go, but we make progress almost every day,\u201d Ackman said on Tuesday (Sept. 15) during an onstage interview at the <\/span>Fast Company Innovation Festival<\/span> in New York. The ordeal led the billionaire hedge fund manager to put $400 million into launching the Ackman Oxman Institute, focused on brain research, rehabilitation, human optimization and longevity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackman described the healthcare industry as \u201cfundamentally broken\u201d and blamed <\/span>non-profit hospital networks<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe solution is a complete reboot,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackman said he could \u201cnot be more effusively positive about the nurses, the doctors\u201d who treated his daughter. Still, he argued that providers\u2019 efforts to treat patients were hindered by reimbursement issues. He plans to run his new institute like the startup accelerator Y Combinator, funding quick breakthroughs in patient care and rehab equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefit of having independent financing coming from one source is that we can make decisions like a startup,\u201d said Ackman, who recently rolled out <\/span>a fund<\/span><\/a> to give retail investors access to pre-IPO companies. \u201cImagine a startup where you have got one big investor. You’re not worried about having to raise money; you can focus on recruiting the best people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He has already spent $191 million on a vacant 400,000 square-foot biotech facility on New York\u2019s Upper West Side to house the project, and he is under contract to buy an adjoining site that has been used by <\/span>Saturday Night Live <\/span><\/i>for rehearsals. That one, he plans to demolish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey’ll probably do an episode about me when we tear down the building,\u201d he half-joked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Ackman described New York as \u201ca really good place\u201d to \u201credefine healthcare,\u201d he didn\u2019t hold back on City Hall.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to design incentives\u2014\u00a0 tax and otherwise \u2014 in a way that promotes business development,\u201d Ackman said. \u201cThe mayor has scared away or encouraged people who are among the most\u00a0 productive New Yorkers to go to other places like Miami, and that’s just not helpful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0But he isn\u2019t packing up any time soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s easier to recruit the best people in brain science to New York City than almost any other city,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackman, who backed President Donald Trump in 2024, defended the President\u2019s foreign policy record while disagreeing with some of his recent moves. He said he dislikes Trump\u2019s crypto projects and balked at his announcement that he would provide all Americans with a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win the midterms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot his greatest sort of moment,\u201d Ackman said. \u201cEvery President is flawed in varying ways, and let’s leave it there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Ackman is launching the Ackman Oxman Institute, a startup-style brain research organization, after his daughter survived a massive brain hemorrhage earlier this year.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":129757851,"featured_media":1693793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_issue-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta__first-draft-date":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[424019958],"company":[424019959,423832856,423983836],"channel":[186,423806427,423812133],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423864305],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthors":[424018231],"class_list":{"0":"post-1693792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-fast-company-innovation-festival","8":"observer_company-ackman-oxman-institute","9":"observer_company-pershing-square","10":"observer_company-y-combinator","11":"channel-business","12":"channel-finance","13":"channel-hedge-funds","14":"nyo_person-bill-ackman"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/09\/bill-ackman-launch-brain-research-institute-manhattan\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2273985225.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Eric Berger","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Bill