'Big Short' Steve Eisman On Leave Of Absence From Investment Firm After Now Deleted Gaza Tweet
Neuberger Berman senior portfolio manager Steve Eisman of "Big Short" fame sparked immense online controversy Thursday when he posted a message on X 'celebrating' the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.
The firm quickly issued a clarifying statement by the next day, calling the remarks 'irresponsible and objectionable'.
"Mr. Eisman’s personal comments on social media are his alone, and he does not speak for Neuberger Berman," it said.
"Even though Mr. Eisman has acknowledged that he mistook the content of the post he responded to, his actions on social media were irresponsible and objectionable."
He soon after deleted his entire account over the offending tweet, which is screenshotted as follows:
The now deleted tweet quickly sparked outrage, with one journalist and author commenting prior to Eisman deleting his account, "This is a top manager at an investment fund... No consequences, complete impunity because it is society-wide."
The tweet was inflammatory enough to get picked up by FT and other major financial news outlets, given the implications for Neuberger Berman, which manages some $481 billion:
His comments on his X account, which included the Neuberger Berman logo, responded to a graphic post showing burning buildings, with people shouting in agony, apparently as a result of an Israeli attack. The video was posted with comments about the lack of international concern over such incidents and said: “The world is silent.”
By Friday afternoon Eisman has been placed on a leave of absence from the investment firm.
This is despite the deletion and apology that he issued soon after the tweet, saying his post was a "mistake" and that he was intending to provide commentary on the latest Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. The suggestion was that he was confused and issued the post in haste.
"I posted about that multiple times, one time inadvertently in response to a post referencing deaths in Gaza and having nothing to do with Lebanon," Eisman wrote.
"When this was pointed out to me, I immediately deleted my post and I regret the mistake."
Bloomberg reports that Neuberger Berman is currently "discussing whether to take further action" and Eisman has as yet given no further comment.
Since last year's Oct.7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel, Eisman hasn't been shy about weighing in with firmly pro-Israel commentary on X. Below is a prior example, but which didn't quite rise to the level of 'celebrating' Palestinian deaths:
Eisman has never been shy about using social media to express his opinion. For example he predicted just this week that the US market will go "straight down" if Kamala Harris takes the White House after November (which for now, is not an offense that will get you banned from social media).