Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman pledge $400 million to launch Manhattan brain research institute

Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman disclosed a plan to establish the Ackman Oxman Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to neuroscience, rehabilitation, and longevity research in Manhattan. They will initially contribute about $400 million in Pershing Square stock, with a comparable or larger follow-up gift forthcoming. The institute will occupy a newly acquired 400,000-square-foot biotech building, with additional space that could bring the campus to roughly 680,000 square feet, surpassing Rockefeller University’s lab footprint.

Designed to be patient-centric, AOI will prioritize translating scientific findings into therapies, supported by its own venture-funding activities and commercial mindset. Partnerships will include Mount Sinai, though the institute intends to collaborate broadly across institutions. The venture was motivated by Ackman’s daughter Lucy’s recent brain hemorrhage and subsequent treatment, which highlighted both the brain’s capacity to recover and the limits of current care.