Billionaires discuss how to shut down Columbia protests in group chat: Report

A group of billionaires privately pressed New York City Mayor Eric Adams to break up campus protests at Columbia University in April, according to The Washington Post . The newspaper's report is based on conversations from a private WhatsApp group chat filled with wealthy business moguls.

Real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht reportedly initiated the chat through a staffer following Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack on Israelis. Notable names in the chat include former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Dell founder Michael Dell and billionaire hedge fund managers Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb.

The Washington Post said more than a dozen group members appear on Forbes' annual list of billionaires.

"The messages offer a window into how some prominent individuals have wielded their money and power in an effort to shape American views of the Gaza war, as well as the actions of academic, business and political leaders – including New York’s mayor," the Post wrote.

According to the report, on April 26, about a week after police initially responded to Columbia , several group chat members participated in a roughly 45-minute Zoom call with Adams about the protests. Confirmed participants include Loeb, Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt.

According to the Post's reporting of the group chat, Loeb later wrote that it was "a sad state that we feel the need to grovel to ask our elected officials to do their jobs."

Sitt summarized in the chat what they discussed on the call, including "donating to Adams" and "using group members' 'leverage' to help persuade Columbia’s president to let New York police back on campus," the report said.

Days later, Columbia asked the New York Police Department to come back to campus.

New York City Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy told the Post that the NYPD entered Columbia's campus twice in response to "specific written requests" from the university, noting, "Any suggestion that other considerations were involved in the decision-making process is completely false."

He also criticized the Post story altogether.

"The insinuation that Jewish donors secretly plotted to influence government operations is an all too familiar antisemitic trope that The Washington Post should be ashamed to ask about, let alone normalize in print," Levy said.

The Post reported that the group chat shut down in early May.

"[Sternlicht] decided to shutter the group because the activities were moving beyond the initial objectives and the people who started it – including himself – were no longer actively participating, and hadn’t been for months," the reporters wrote, citing a source close to Sternlicht.

As for some of the other notable members in the group, Ackman and Schultz both confirmed membership through spokespeople but said they never financially contributed or spoke to Adams about Columbia.

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