PULLING THE STRINGS

NYC Tycoons Pushed Mayor To Sic NYPD on Columbia Student Protesters

In a WhatsApp group chat populated by some of the richest people in the United States, a number of billionaires organized to “change the narrative” in support of Israel.

A group of wealthy New York City tycoons pressured Mayor Eric Adams into using police force against student protesters at Columbia University, The Washington Post reports. In a WhatsApp group chat populated by some of the richest people in the United States, business executives discussed ways of pressuring Columbia’s president and trustees to permit Adams to use New York Police Department to disperse protesters. Some members said they offered to fund private investigators to support New York Police Department, an offer they said Adams had accepted—but City Hall denied ever happened. According to the Post, some of the attendees of the meeting with Adams were KIND Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky, Third Point founder Daniel Loeb, Sir Len Blavatnik, a billionaire, and Thor Equities Joseph Sitt. The upper-crust group chat, initiated by billionaire real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht days after Hamas’ deadly incursion into Israeli territory, aimed to “change the narrative” in support of Israel, according to one message. The members of the chat include former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Bill Ackman, and Jared Kushner’s brother Joshua, along with more than a dozen of Forbes’ annual list of billionaires.