The New York Times published a story Monday about President Trump’s push for a Malaria drug that he claims can treat coronavirus, with the publication pointing to French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, which produces a version of the drug, hydroxychloroquine. Now multi-billion-dollar advisor Ken Fisher, whose sexual comments roiled the Tiburon CEO Summit last fall, is fighting back against the Times report, which said he was an “associate” of Trump and one of the largest shareholders of Sanofi.
A Fisher spokesman declined to comment for the Times, but a statement released Tuesday by Fisher Investments calls the report “false” and demands a correction. Fisher says the pharmaceutical company makes up less than 0.8% of the firm’s portfolio and that the firm’s ownership is less than 0.7% of Sanofi. And Fisher himself does not have a material interest in the company.
“Neither the firm nor Ken Fisher have ever promoted the drug described in the New York Times article in any way or discussed it with anyone,” the statement said. “Furthermore, Ken Fisher is not an ‘associate’ of President Trump, as falsely reported by the New York Times, nor is Fisher Investments a mutual fund company. Ken Fisher has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past.”
The Times did run a correction Tuesday clarifying that Fisher's firm is an investment company, not a mutual fund company.
"We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting," said Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times spokeswoman, in a statement. "After reviewing their complaint, editors appended the following correction to address a point of fact."
Last October, Alex Chalekian, founder and CEO of Lake Avenue Financial, posted a video of himself on Twitter denouncing Fisher for comments he made during a fireside chat at the Tiburon CEO Summit in San Francisco. The tweet spurred outrage among the FinTwit community, with many saying they were “disgusted” by Fisher’s behavior and that he had made similar comments at other industry events. The controversy caused Fisher to lose several large institutional clients.