‘Destroy them!’ Bill Ackman rants on X about $2 million severance demand from terminated employee — and fellow billionaires rushed to his defense

In the post, Ackman described his concerns about high staff turnover and rising costs at the firm, which was established about 15 years ago to oversee his personal finances. He said he asked his nephew — who had previously worked at a watch company that Ackman controls — to look into operations at TABLE.

According to Ackman, his nephew's presence took a turn for the worse when the latter made a comment at a lunch about a woman looking young for her age. The remark, along with others, didn't go unnoticed by the woman, an in-house lawyer whom Ackman referred to using the pseudonym "Ronda." She was later laid off as part of broader staffing changes and alleged that the comments contributed to an "unsafe work environment."

A $2 million dispute

Ackman said the former employee declined a severance package of three months' pay and instead sought compensation equivalent to two years' salary, which would work out to roughly $2 million.

Severance (2) pay is money some employees receive after they're let go, though it's not required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (2). Still, it's fairly common, especially in corporate roles.

Data from compensation platform Pave shows many employers place limits on how much they'll pay. About half of companies cap severance altogether, with public firms typically topping out at around 26 weeks of pay, and private companies closer to 12 weeks (3).

Ackman's post quickly gained traction online, drawing 11 million views and 23,000 likes, including reactions from fellow billionaires. Elon Musk (4) wrote that situations like this have "gone too far," (4) while Donald Trump Jr. added (5), "This nonsense has to stop."

Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded Palantir, was among those who chimed in on Ackman's post. "Destroy them!" he wrote, according to the Wall Street Journal (6).

Ackman also suggested the demand may have been influenced by his personal circumstances, noting that he's been focused on caring for one of his adult daughters who's recovering from a brain hemorrhage.

Others joined the conversation, including anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck, who argued workplace dynamics are shifting, telling the WSJ, "there is a system that preys more on white males because it's like they are outside the victim hierarchy."

However, the dispute is unfolding against a broader shift in how diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is being approached. Under Joe Biden, a 2021 executive order pushed a government-wide effort to expand diversity and reduce barriers to employment across federal agencies (7).

More recently, that approach has started to change. In May 2025, President Trump signed a memorandum removing DEI considerations from parts of the Foreign Service, emphasizing a return to merit-based hiring (8). Trump has said employers should hire and promote workers based on merit, but the question is whether biases and structural barriers still shape who gets those opportunities.