Billionaire Bill Ackman wanted the spotlight when he and retired professional Jack Sock\u00a0lost a doubles match last week at the Hall of Fame Open, an official pro tournament on the ATP Challenger tour.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s certainly got it, though perhaps not as he intended.<\/p>\n
The billionaire has made headlines in recent years for his backing of Donald Trump<\/a>, attacking Harvard\u2019s former president over dubious plagarism charges<\/a> (while defending similar accusations against his wife<\/a>), pledging to bankroll anyone<\/a> who will run against Zohran Mamdani in the NYC mayor\u2019s race, and for being terminally online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ackman\u2019s prsence in the professional tournament was met with swift condemnation from many corners of the tennis and sports media worlds, with critics saying that he bought his way into the tournament, taking a spot from an actual professional who could have benefitted from it. The fact that Ackman and Sock got blown out made the whole ordeal even more pathetic.<\/p>\n Andy Roddick called it<\/a> \u201cthe biggest joke I\u2019ve ever watched in professional tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cApparently you can buy yourself a wild card,\u201d wrote Martina Navratilova on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim called it \u201cwildly inappropriate and lacking in integrity<\/a>\u201d given that the match had an impact on ranking points and prize money.<\/p>\n Glenn Greenwald slammed Ackman on X, writing that he<\/a> \u201cused his vast wealth to worm his way into a professional, ATP-sanctioned tennis tournament at the Hall of Fame at the age of 59\u2026 It\u2019d be as if Bill Gates got the Seattle Mariners to let him be a starting pitcher for their AAA team. Pathetic ego-stroking.\u201d<\/p>\n The pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance of the whole ordeal might just be a fake trailer for an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary called Net Worth\u00a0about Ackman\u2019s poor outing. Created by Morning Brew\u2019s Good Work<\/a>, it went viral over the weekend.<\/p>\n Bill Ackman changed tennis forever<\/p>\n 30 for 30: \u2018Net Worth\u2019 now streaming pic.twitter.com\/iNl4L6EWvJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Good Work (@goodworkmb) July 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cYou could say everything was stacked against Bill Ackman,\u201d says a talking head in the faux trailer.<\/p>\n \u201cThey lost in straight sets, but Bill Ackman changed the game,\u201d adds another.<\/p>\n We have to admit, we would watch this. Also, they nailed it on the name Net Worth. Golf clap (or is it tennis clap) for that.<\/p>\n As for Ackman, he\u2019s doing what he does best, posting through it<\/a> and hoping his money will make people forget<\/a> what a blowhard he is.<\/p>\n \t\n