Wall Street CEOs standing up for Israel and against pro-Hamas colleges
Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and killing Israeli civilians
Israel declared war against Hamas after the terrorist group infiltrated the country on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets at residential areas and killing civilians. The Israeli are reportedly preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza.
Nearly 8,000 people have been killed in the war on both sides, including at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 33 Americans. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims at least 6,546 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 17,439 wounded.
ISRAEL'S WAR ON HAMAS: LIVE UPDATES
Many top U.S. CEOs have been speaking out in support of Israel and against those who have publicly supported Hamas, specifically big money donors to America's Ivy Leagues.
FOX Business takes a look at the powerful voices on Wall Street supporting the cause.
Leon Cooperman, Omega Advisors
Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman, CEO of Omega Advisors, joined his fellow Wall Street titans in denouncing Columbia University for its antisemitism and pro-Hamas support. Now, he will pull his financial backing for the school which has totaled about $50 million over the years.
"These kids at the colleges have sh-- for brains," Cooperman told "The Claman Countdown" host Liz Claman this week. "We have one reliable ally in the Middle East. That's Israel. We only have one democracy in the Middle East. That's Israel. And we have one economy tolerant of different people, gays, lesbians, etc. That's Israel. So they have no idea what these young kids are doing."
Cooperman's net worth is nearly $3 billion according to Forbes.
Bill Ackman, Pershing Square CEO
The billionaire hedge fund manager was one of the first to speak out in support of Israel, specifically denouncing pro-Hamas Harvard students and demanding the names of these supporters be made public, so companies like his and other businesses leaders could know not to hire these individuals. Ackman is a Harvard MBA graduate and has donated millions to the Ivy League school.
Ackman's net worth is $3.6 billion, per Forbes.
BILL ACKMAN WON'T HIRE HARVARD HAMAS SUPPORTERS
US CEOS SHOW SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AFTER HAMAS ATTACKS
Marc Rowan, Apollo Management CEO
Rowan, who co-founded Apollo Global Management and received an MBA from the Wharton School, wrote in a letter sent to the school’s newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, to call for the resignation of UPenn President Liz Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees. Rowan is the chairman of the board of advisers to the Wharton School, UPenn’s elite college of business, and in 2018 he and his wife gave the business school $50 million.
Rowan's net worth is $5.5 billion per Forbes.
APOLLO CEO ROWAN ASKS UPENN CEO TO EXIT
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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APO | APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT | 172.34 | -2.69 | -1.54% |
Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO
Fink, who runs the world's largest asset management firm with nearly $9 trillion in assets, discussed his support for Israel during an interview on FOX Business Network’s "The Claman Countdown" with host Liz Claman and Charlie Gasparino.
Fink said that "the world needs to get back its moral compass" and said that he is "standing up against bigotry and hatred." He also said that he "totally agreed" that there is no moral equivalence between what is happening in the Middle East broadly versus what happened to Israel on Oct. 7, when at least 1,400 Israelis were killed by Hamas in a surprise terror attack.
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BLK | BLACKROCK INC. | 1,022.80 | +3.35 | +0.33% |
Fink added that in his role as a member of the New York University board of trustees, the board and university leadership categorically condemned the attack.
"As a board member at NYU, we were loud and specific and immediate in terms of stopping any of that support of hatred," Fink said.
Fink's net worth is $1 billion per Forbes.
BLACKROCK CEO LARRY FINK: WORLD NEEDS TO GET BACK ITS MORAL COMPASS
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon
On the Sunday following the attacks, Dimon sent a company-wide memo to employees.
"This past weekend’s attack on Israel and its people and the resulting war and bloodshed are a terrible tragedy," Dimon said in an internal memo obtained by CNN. "We stand with our employees, their families and the people of Israel during this time of great suffering and loss."
Later, following the bank's quarterly earnings, Dimon warned about the global unrest.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 249.72 | -0.07 | -0.03% |
The war in Ukraine, along with the unprecedented attacks in Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, may have "far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships," Dimon said in a statement accompanying the bank's third-quarter earnings release.
"This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades," he said.
JPMORGAN CEO DIMON WARNS OVER GLOBAL UNREST
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FOX Business' Breck Dumas, Daniella Genovese, Eric Revell, Megan Henney and Kristin Altus contributed to this report.