Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg and other US business notables at a private roundtable to talk about the reconstruction of Ukraine, various US media outlets reported, citing unnamed sources.
The Thursday afternoon meeting, organized by JPMorgan in midtown Manhattan, also included New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and billionaire Barry Sternlicht, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source.
Fox News, citing unnamed sources speaking before the meeting, said William Ackman, the head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, Citadel founder Ken Griffin, Blackstone Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray, and others were also to attend.
The meeting on Thursday evening was hosted by Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of JPMorgan Asset & Wealth Management, Workplace CEO Vince LaPadula and JPMorgan alternative investments head Anton Pil, CNN reported
CNN said that "the focus of Wednesday’s gathering, held in midtown Manhattan, was to discuss ways to support and invest in the reconstruction of Ukraine," but "it’s not immediately clear if it resulted in any firm commitments from the business leaders."
Earlier in the afternoon, the sources told Fox News, Zelensky met privately with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
BlackRock, JPMorgan, McKinsey and leading global law firm Freshfields are helping the Ukrainian government create a reconstruction fund that aims to raise $10 billion from governments, multinational organizations and other large donors, then use it to generate at least $50 billion in investments in the country.
The fund, called the Ukraine Development Fund, will take minority stakes in various investment projects in Ukraine using low-cost funding from major donors, the Ukrainian government has said.
Zelensky is in the US this week to speak to the United Nations in New York and meet US President Joe Biden and members of the US Congress in Washington D.C. to garner more military and civil aid.
Earlier in New York, he met newly appointed US Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, Penny Pritzker, to discuss "the priority regions of our country for reconstruction, as well as support for the most promising sectors of the Ukrainian economy," the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement.
