Billionaire Bill Ackman is one of the top donors to a GoFundMe for a Missouri teen who was left in critical condition after a brutal assault just blocks from her high school.
A spokesperson for Pershing Square Capital Management confirmed to the Post that the hedge fund firm launched the project earlier this week to help victim Kaylee Gain, 16, and her family. He reportedly donated $10,000 to the campaign.
As of Thursday afternoon, Mr. Ackman, listed on the funding page as “William Ackman,” and another person, David Humphries, were tied as top donors.
Mr. Ackman’s donation is First reported by Daily Mail.
In just two days, nearly 5,000 people donated, raising more than $225,500 of the $500,000 campaign goal.
Six days after the attack, Gein remains in critical condition with a “cerebral hemorrhage” caused by a fractured skull and frontal lobe damage, a family friend who helped raise money wrote.
The teen’s loved ones won’t know the extent of her brain damage until she wakes up, they added.
On Wednesday, Gein’s parents expressed hope that she might recover.
“We are so grateful to the amazing medical staff who worked tirelessly to give her the best chance for a full recovery,” the parents wrote in a second GoFundMe set up by family friends. said in a statement shared on the page.
Gane and another teen were involved in a vicious fight that was caught on camera Friday afternoon near East Hazelwood High School.
Horrifying footage showed Gein and the other girl exchanging blows, with Gein ultimately being pinned to the ground.
The other girl repeatedly called Caylee a “bitch” and then repeatedly banged her head on the pavement.
Bystanders could be heard reacting while Gane was convulsing on the ground.
The other girl, who has not been officially identified, was reportedly arrested at the scene.
Due to the extent of Gein’s injuries, many local councilors called for the perpetrator to be given the maximum adult penalty for the encounter.
“Offenders should be prosecuted and tried as adults. If the victim dies, the charge should be upgraded to murder,” Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote in X.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley used the incident to advocate for a federal mandate to increase the number of school safety officers on campus.
“If it’s enough to have security guards at some football games, police officers, surveillance cameras, that’s certainly enough for our kids,” the Republican said.
The Hazelwood School District did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Ackman, 57, has not spoken publicly about Gaines or the game video, but has made headlines in recent months for his comments about anti-Semitism and DEI efforts at U.S. universities.
He was one of the most vocal Harvard alumni donors who called for Claudine Gay to resign as president amid a storm of criticism over her handling of the Israel-Hamas war and plagiarism allegations.
Ackman is now threatening to sue Business Insider over reports that his wife, Neri Oxenberg, was also a plagiarist.
