Ken Fisher, CEO of Fisher Investments, one of the country’s largest RIAs, caused a social media stir Wednesday over comments he allegedly made at the Tiburon CEO Summit in San Francisco.
Breaking the summit’s off-the-record protocol, attendee Alex Chalekian, Founder and CEO of Pasadena-based Lake Avenue Financial, took to Twitter following Fisher’s “fireside chat” to decry what he said was a “true debacle.”
“It was horrible. Things that were said by Ken Fisher were just absolutely horrifying,” Chalekian said in a video tweet. “He made comments about genitalia, he talked about picking up on a girl and ‘don’t show them what’s in your pants.’ He made reference to [deceased pedophile] Jeffrey Epstein. He talked about how charities are immoral. He mentioned things like tripping on acid and other inappropriate things at the conference.”
Claiming that many of the women in attendance expressed that comments like Fisher’s are one of the reasons they don’t like going to industry conferences, he added that “it makes them feel very uncomfortable and this, obviously, doesn’t help the situation.”
The Tiburon Summit, a gathering of top investment and business leaders, typically asks attendees to refrain from commenting outside the event to ensure speakers can freely share their thoughts about strategy and other potentially sensitive business topics.
Apology issued (sort of)
In a statement, Fisher “truly and sincerely apologized” to Chalekian and any others who were offended, but seemed surprised by the outcry, telling Bloomberg he’s spoken like that in the past.
“I have given a lot of talks, a lot of times, in a lot of places and said stuff like this and never gotten that type of response,” Fisher, 68, told the news service, adding he thought his comments were taken out of context. “Mostly the audience understands what I am saying.”
Fisher Investment, founded in 1979, manages approximately $112 billion in assets.
“I regret I accepted that speech invitation because it was kind of a pain in the neck,” Fisher concluded to Bloomberg. “I wonder if anybody will be candid at one of these Tiburon events again.”