Harvard's Usually Quiet Election Turns Buzzier As Billionaires Mark Zuckerberg And Bill Ackman Push Candidates For Overseers Board

Billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Ackman are taking active roles in the upcoming Board of Overseers election at Harvard University, making what is typically a subdued affair, a headline-grabbing event.

What Happened: The typically low-key election is gaining nationwide attention due to the involvement of influential billionaires Zuckerberg and Ackman, who are rallying behind their preferred candidates in hopes of initiating substantial changes at the renowned institution, reported CNN Business on Monday.

Meta CEO Zuckerberg has publicly supported Sam Lessin, a former Facebook executive and venture capitalist, who is calling for extensive reforms at Harvard. A virtual event was hosted by Zuckerberg last Friday to boost Lessin’s campaign.

"I would feel a lot more confident in the future of the institution if Sam or more people like him were involved in this," Zuckerberg said.

Ackman, a hedge fund manager, is intensifying his efforts to secure positions for four outsider candidates on the ballot before the Wednesday deadline. Ackman, a known critic of Harvard, is spearheading this initiative after previously leading a campaign to remove former Harvard President Claudine Gay, accusing the university of “election interference”.

Here is @Harvard's election interference with greater granularity.

When I voted a little more than a week ago, I clicked a link and arrived at a landing page which explained how to vote for petitioning candidates.

Now it has become a labyrinth of complexity:

You start here…

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) January 29, 2024

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Typically, the Harvard Board of Overseers, consisting of 30 members, is nominated by the university’s alumni association. Despite this, Ackman is supporting a group of four outsiders, all U.S. military veterans aged between 36 and 38, who can only appear on the ballot if they gather over 3,200 signatures by January 31.

Sam Lessin, who is not part of Ackman’s group, has expressed concerns for weeks about the nominating process, arguing that it effectively disenfranchises alumni. He is hoping that the support from Zuckerberg and other business executives will assist him in securing the necessary signatures.

"Mark is someone I've known a very long time. He's built one of the most iconic companies in the history of the world," Lessin said, adding, "He just asked what he could do to help. It's not more complicated than that."

Why It Matters: This development follows Ackman’s recent involvement in the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay, where he and other Harvard alumni successfully called for her dismissal. Ackman has also been critical of Harvard’s handling of anti-Semitism incidents and its diversity and inclusion programs.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay announced her resignation on Tuesday, just six months after assuming the prestigious position. The announcement followed heightened scrutiny over allegations of plagiarism in some of her published works and a controversial appearance before Congress.

Ackman’s crusade against anti-Semitism in U.S. elite universities – the Ivy League – has found support from Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk.

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