Internal review backs Business Insider reporting of Oxman plagiarism claims

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Reports of plagiarism against the academic Neri Oxman, wife of billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, are “accurate and well documented”, the chief executive of Business Insider has told staff.

In a memorandum sent to Business Insider reporters on Sunday, a copy of which was seen by the Financial Times, chief executive Barbara Peng said an internal review into the financial news website’s reporting this month — which led to a war of words on social media between Ackman and the platform — had found it to be rigorous and fair.

“We are a journalism organisation with high standards and a commitment to truth and fairness,” wrote Peng. “There was no unfair bias or personal, political, and/or religious motivation in the pursuit of the stories.”

Axel Springer, the German media conglomerate that owns Business Insider, confirmed the memo was accurate.

It said: “We note that Business Insider’s chief executive has published a statement on the matter. Axel Springer stands by Business Insider and its newsroom.”

In two reports on January 4 and 5, Business Insider claimed Oxman’s doctoral thesis had been “marred by plagiarism”. Oxman is a former professor of material sciences at MIT.

The claims drew an explosive response from Ackman, who spent much of December locked in a high-profile battle to unseat the president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, in part over allegations of plagiarism.

Ackman had been angry with Gay since her controversial comments to a US congressional committee investigation into campus antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel in October.

Asked whether threats of genocide against Jewish people made by students would be in violation of Harvard’s code of conduct, Gay gave an equivocal response that drew widespread condemnation.

When claims of plagiarism against her surfaced weeks…