Bill Ackman says Brazil’s ban on X will make country ‘uninvestable’
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman is among the latest critics of a court order to suspend Elon Musk’s social-media platform X in Brazil. The ruling likely will drive away investors and harm the country, he said in an online post.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered internet service providers in Brazil to prevent people from gaining access to X. The order was in response to X’s refusal to name a legal representative in the country to handle requests to remove accounts that allegedly spread political misinformation.
The judge also ordered banks to freeze funds held by Starlink, another business owned by Musk, as collateral for fines imposed on X for not complying with court decisions.
The “illegal shut down of X and account freeze at Starlink put Brazil on a rapid path to becoming an uninvestable market,” Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, said in a post on X on Saturday night. “China committed similar acts leading to capital flight and a collapse in valuations. The same will happen to Brazil unless they quickly retreat from these illegal acts.”