Topics: Twitter, Viral, Social Media
Billionaire Bill Ackman has sparked some mixed responses after he attempted to use his position as a 'older happily married guy' to share some relationship advice for the 'next generation'.
Ackman, the founder and chief executive of an investment management company called Pershing Square Capital Management, has been married to his wife, Neri Oxman, for six years.
His latest relationship comes after he split from his first wife, Karen Ann Herskovitz, in 2017, but while he is 'happily married', he shared his concerns that younger generations might struggle to end up the same way.
In a post on X, Ackman claimed that he'd heard 'from many young men' that they've been finding it difficult to 'meet young women in a public setting'.
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"In other words, the online culture has destroyed the ability to spontaneously meet strangers," Ackman continued. "As such, I thought I would share a few words that I used in my youth to meet someone that I found compelling."
It was there that Ackman went on to share the four-word question that has since gone viral and sparked a whole lot of responses.
He wrote: "I would ask: 'May I meet you?' before engaging further in a conversation. I almost never got a No."
Ackman claimed that this question 'inevitably enabled the opportunity for a further conversation', adding: "I met a lot of really interesting people this way. I think the combination of proper grammar and politeness was the key to its effectiveness. You might give it a try.
"And yes, I think it should also work for women seeking men as well as same sex interactions."
While Ackman stressed this tweet was 'just [his] two cents' from a man 'concerned about our next generation’s happiness and population replacement rates', readers weren't particularly welcoming of his advice.
Many viewers shared jokey memes attached to the phrase 'may I meet you', while one wrote: "Bill Ackman being a dating coach was not on my bingo card for 2025."
Another suggested that the huge response to the line might result in it actually becoming a success, writing: "The funniest thing about the 'May I meet you' meme will be when it reaches such cult popularity as an inside joke that it starts to work as an ironic pickup line."
In the grand scheme of things, it's good that Ackman's advice encourages people to gauge whether others are interested in talking to them, rather than just trapping them in a conversation, but there's no denying that the phrase would probably leave you a bit confused.
As for Ackman's own love-life, he responded to one X user who asked exactly how he and Oxman had met and indicated he hadn't actually used 'may I meet you' when it came to getting her attention.
Ackman explained that he'd been set up by a college professor following his split from his former wife, saying: "The description was very compelling, and he invited me to dinner at his home with her and her then-boyfriend so I passed.
"Six months later, another close friend texted me and said that she had just met the perfect woman for me. The description perfectly matched the one I heard six months before. I asked for the woman’s name and it was the same name, but she was still dating the same guy. Three months later when we were both out of relationships, we went on a first date and I fell in love."
