Billionaire Bill Ackman endorses Trump in US presidential race

The billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman endorsed U.S. former President Donald Trump on Saturday in the Republican's rematch race against President Joe Biden, shortly after Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally.

"I just endorsed him," Ackman posted on social media platform X. "But you know me. I write long posts on important topics. I want people to understand my thinking so it means more and helps others get to the right place," he continued in response to another social media user.

Ackman followed Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who endorsed Trump and expressed "hope for his rapid recovery" from the shooting, in which Trump was hit in the upper right ear but said by his campaign to be doing fine.

Ackman's endorsement marks a change from 2021. After the attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol on 6 January, Ackman posted that Trump should "resign and apologise to all Americans."

The chief executive and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Management said he had recently spent a few hours with Trump but did not explain the reasoning behind his endorsement.

Ackman's endorsement did not mention Saturday's shooting. However, he alluded to it in a later post: "We are in the midst of a perilous moment for our democracy."

"I came to this decision some time ago as many X followers have already understood from my supportive posts of Trump and my criticisms of Biden," Ackman wrote in a post to his 1.3 million followers on X.

Ackman had considered endorsing Trump as recently as May, and had planned to announce his support on X, Reuters and other media outlets reported.

A spokesperson for Ackman did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.