Bill Ackman - Philanthropy

Philanthropy

Ackman has given to charitable causes such as the Center for Jewish History to preserve Jewish genealogy where he spearheaded a successful effort to retire their $30 million in debt personally contributing $6.8 million. In a press release, the Ackman family stated, "We want our children to know, not only their living relatives, but those representing past generations for a greater connection to their family and ancestral origin and heritage." This donation made with that of Bruce Berkowitz, founder of Fairholme Capital Management, and Joseph Steinberg, president of Leucadia National, were the three largest individual gifts that the center has ever received.

Ackman's foundation donated $1.1 million to the Innocence Project in New York City and Centurion Ministries in Princeton, N.J. The two groups are dedicated to investigating the cases of people who have been wrongfully convicted.

Ackman is a signatory of The Giving Pledge committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.

Bill and Karen Ackman founded The Pershing Square Foundation in 2006 to support innovation in the areas of economic development, education, healthcare, human rights, arts and urban development. Since it was founded, the Foundation has committed over $160 million in grants and social investments. In 2011, the Ackmans were among The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50 list of the most generous donors.

Recent Pershing Square Foundation’s grants include:

• A $25 million gift to Signature Theatre to fund the innovative Signature Ticket Initiative.
• A five-year, $10 million grant to Human Rights Watch in support of the advocacy organization's strategic plan and new initiatives in its Africa and Women's Rights divisions.
• $25-million to help improve the public-school system in Newark, N.J. When Newark Mayor Cory Booker was seeking additional donors to match a $100-million pledge the Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was making to Newark’s school system, the Ackmans’ foundation came forward with the biggest commitment yet, next to Mr. Zuckerberg’s. Employees from Pershing Square Capital Management and The Pershing Square Foundation also helped build and pay for a brand a new playground on an empty lot in Newark, New Jersey in partnership with the Greater Newark Housing Partnership, the Urban League of Essex County, organizers from the non-profit KaBOOM! and residents of the Fairmount Heights neighborhood.
• Grants totaling $6.5-million to the One Acre Fund since 2008, including a partnership with USAID. One Acre Fund is an NGO in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi that invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income to reduce poverty and hunger. Unlike most interventions designed to improve farming incomes in poor settings, One Acre Fund facilitates activities and transactions at each level of the farming value chain, from organizing farmer groups to negotiating with export markets.
• $1.5-million, three year grant to Social Finance to introduce social impact phones to the United States, with Pershing Square acting as a founding partner of Social Finance US.