Business Insider Owners 'Concerned' Story On Bill Ackman's Wife's Plagiarism Could Be 'Construed as Antisemitic'

Business Insider's parent company is divided over the publication's recent article about plagiarism allegations made against the wife of businessman Bill Ackman.

Ackman led the effort to oust now-former Harvard president Claudine Gay over plagiarism accusations, amid campus controversies around Israel and Gaza. Last week, Business Insider reported that his wife, Neri Oxman, plagiarized portions of her dissertation.

Semafor has learned that the report has caused serious divisions within the top echelons of Axel Springer, BI's German owner. Some company leaders have debated whether Ackman's wife was fair game for reporting, and have been concerned that the report could be construed as antisemitic and anti-Zionist. (Oxman was born and raised in Israel.)

In a statement to Semafor, Axel Springer spokesperson Adib Sisani said that while the facts of BI's report have not been disputed, over the past few days "questions have been raised about the motivation and the process leading up to the reporting — questions that we take very seriously. Our media brands operate independently, however all Axel Springer publications are committed to journalism that meets rigorous editorial standards and processes."

"We are going to take a couple of days to review the processes around these stories to ensure that our standards as well as our journalistic values have been upheld," he said.

[...] Top execs at Axel Springer seem to be worried that reports like those on Oxman last week could damage BI's reputation in the eyes of some potential business readers.