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Billionaire investor Bill Ackman donated $18,000 to a toddler whose parents were killed in the Highland Park shooting

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., October 17, 2017.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman took to Twitter to criticize mass shootings in the US. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has donated $18,000 to a GoFundMe page raising funds for 2-year-old Aiden McCarthy, whose parents were killed at the Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.

The toddler was found covered in blood at the mass shooting, but was not injured. His father, Kevin McCarthy, 37, died shielding him, the toddler's grandfather told The Chicago Sun-Times. His mother, Irina McCarthy, 35, also died in the shooting.

An organizer set up the GoFundMe donation page for McCarthy on Tuesday with permission from the family, according to the page. It aimed to raise $500,000 but has garnered over $2.8 million in donations from over 52,000 people so far.

Ackman is the top donor to the fundraiser under the name "William Ackman." A representative for Ackman confirmed the donation to Insider, but did not provide further comments.

Ackman is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund. He has a net worth of $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.

Following the Highland Park shooting, he took to Twitter to condemn mass shootings in the US.

 

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Huileng Tan
Huileng Tan
Huileng Tan is a senior reporter based in Singapore, covering markets, the global economy, commodities, and investing. Her reporting focuses on how shifts in money, demographics, technology, and policy are reshaping businesses, wealth, and everyday life around the world.Since joining Business Insider in 2021, she has covered everything from commodity booms and investor trends to China's economy, the AI trade, and the forces driving global markets.Before joining Business Insider, she reported for CNBC, Dow Jones, ICIS, and The Wall Street Journal.Reach her at htan@bjinnox.com.