Zelenskiy presses case for more help with US hedge fund, tech titans -sources (updated)

Pershing Square Holdings

21/09/2023 01:00

(Adds details on meeting, attendees, paragraphs 1-7)
    By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lananh Nguyen
       NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday pressed his case for financial
help for his country with some of America's best known
billionaires who made their fortunes in industries ranging from
finance to tech and sports.  
    The small number of hedge fund managers, real estate
investors, philanthropists, bankers and former government
officials met with Zelenskiy in New York as he laid out the need
for more investment in Ukraine now, 19 months after Russian
forces invaded.
    The meeting was scheduled for hours after Zelenskiy
addressed the United Nations Security Council about Russia's
invasion and its consequences. The meeting was organized by
JPMorgan Chase  JPM.N , the sources said.
    Billionaire investors Ken Griffin, Bill Ackman, and
Blackstone Group  BX.N  president Jonathan Gray, who are often
invited to weigh in by central bankers and policy makers on
political issues, were invited to meet Zelenskiy.
    Robert Kraft, chief executive of the New England Patriots
football team, Henry Kissinger, a former United States Secretary
of State, former Google  GOOGL.O  CEO Eric Schmidt, politician,
philanthropist and businessman Mike Bloomberg, a former mayor of
New York, and real estate investor Barry Sternlicht, also joined
the meeting, which was held at Ukraine's mission to the United
Nations.
    The group sat around a table and listened to Zelenskiy,
speaking in English and flanked by aides, make his case for
investing in his country, coupled with an urgency to lend more
support now, some of the attendees said. 
    The group of bankers who convened the meeting to discuss
investment in Ukraine included JPMorgan executives Mary Callahan
Erdoes, its CEO of asset and wealth management, and Vince
LaPadula, its CEO of workplace. 
    Ukraine has tried to lock in financial support from business
leaders to help rebuild the country. 
    Representatives for Griffin's Citadel, and Ackman's Pershing
Square Capital Management and other attendees declined to
comment.
    A spokesperson for Zelenskiy and Ukraine's mission to the
United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
    Some of the attendees have already donated millions.
    Ackman, whose great-grandfather emigrated to the United
States from Ukraine, in February pledged $3.25 million to help
buy more than a dozen ambulances for Ukraine, according to his
college friend Whitney Tilson who leads the project to buy the
vehicles. Since the start of the war, Ackman's foundation has
donated roughly $24 million to support Ukraine, a person
familiar with the numbers said.
    Griffin, who last week laid out a roadmap for his
philanthropic giving, last year pledged to donate $3 million for
scholarships to support Ukrainian students study science,
technology, engineering and math.
    Before the meeting in New York, the White House appealed to
Congress to approve billions of additional dollars of support
for Ukraine.
    With the fighting heading into a second winter, American
business executives and others have said that interest in the
war may fall off especially as next year's U.S. presidential
election picks up steam.
    Howard Buffett, whose father Warren is often considered
among the world's most successful investors, on Wednesday said
he may step up his own support for the country to guard against
Ukraine "fatigue."
    Fox News first reported Zelenskiy's meeting with the
investors.

 (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lananh Nguyen, additional
reporting by Andrea Shalal and Michelle Nichols; Editing by
Megan Davies and Grant McCool)
 ((Lananh.Nguyen@thomsonreuters.com; +1 (646) 696 4829;))