Zelenskiy presses case for more help with US hedge fund, tech titans -sources
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lananh Nguyen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday pressed his case for financial help for his country with some of America's best known billionaires who made their fortunes in industries ranging from finance to tech and sports.
The small number of hedge fund managers, real estate investors, philanthropists, bankers and former government officials met with Zelenskiy in New York as he laid out the need for more investment in Ukraine now, 19 months after Russian forces invaded.
The meeting was scheduled for hours after Zelenskiy addressed the United Nations Security Council about Russia's invasion and its consequences. The meeting was organized by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), the sources said.
Billionaire investors Ken Griffin, Bill Ackman, and Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX) president Jonathan Gray, who are often invited to weigh in by central bankers and policy makers on political issues, were invited to meet Zelenskiy.
Robert Kraft, chief executive of the New England Patriots football team, Henry Kissinger, a former United States Secretary of State, former Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Eric Schmidt, politician, philanthropist and businessman Mike Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, and real estate investor Barry Sternlicht, also joined the meeting, which was held at Ukraine's mission to the United Nations.
The group sat around a table and listened to Zelenskiy, speaking in English and flanked by aides, make his case for investing in his country, coupled with an urgency to lend more support now, some of the attendees said.
The group of bankers who convened the meeting to discuss investment in Ukraine included JPMorgan executives Mary Callahan Erdoes, its CEO of
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