Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has shared dating advice that quickly went viral, sparking quite a reaction online.
The 58-year-old, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, which is valued at around $9.3 billion, offered what he described as “old-fashioned wisdom” aimed at young men struggling to connect with women in person.
In a post on X, he voiced concerns about a cultural shift that seems to leave young men feeling isolated and reluctant to approach women offline. He said, “I thought I’d share some of the words I used when I was younger to meet someone I found attractive.”
Ackman suggested starting a conversation with, “Can I meet you?” He mentioned that using polite language and “proper grammar” surprisingly worked in his favor, claiming he rarely faced rejection.
He concluded his advice by saying it came from a “happily married older man” who cares about the younger generation and the concerns surrounding population rates.
Despite his intentions, Ackman’s advice quickly became fodder for humor online. Users on X turned his “Can I meet you?” phrase into memes, pairing it with images capturing awkward social interactions.
One popular meme featured comedian Shane Gillis looking awkwardly into the camera, while another showed a man uncomfortably eyeing a group of women at a party.
One user humorously responded, “Can we meet first thing Monday morning to talk about performance improvement plans?” paired with a stock image of a smiling woman, poking fun at the formal tone of Ackman’s suggestion.
Widening his public persona, Ackman is increasingly recognized beyond just finance. His firm, Pershing Square, oversees about $16 billion in assets and has made headlines for its high-profile investments, including companies like Chipotle and Herbalife.
Ackman married designer Neri Oxman in 2019, following his divorce from his first wife, landscape architect Karen Herskovitz, with whom he has three daughters.
