You might have heard something about a number of global movements aimed at ending sexism and misogyny, and the countless men who were outed for their behaviour in this regard.

Producers, comedians, TV hosts, and politicians are hauled over the coals for their misdeeds, losing their jobs and (in some cases) facing criminal prosecution.

Then there’s billionaire investor Ken Fisher, who wasn’t going to let a little thing like human decency get in the way of what he hoped would be a few laughs at a few sexist comments, at an exclusive investor conference in San Francisco this week.

Over to CBS:

According to attendees, Fisher compared signing a new client to “getting into a girl’s pants” and mentioned genitalia.

Fisher, who made the comments at a San Francisco conference on Tuesday, then clarified the comment by adding, “I don’t want you to confuse me with Epstein — a woman’s pants,” said Rachel Robasciotti, a principal and wealth manager at Robasciotti & Philipson who attended the conference as a speaker and heard Fisher’s remarks.

Yeah, using convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein as an example makes it all better. You’re setting the bar really high there, buddy.

The event, hosted by Tiburon Strategic Advisors, carried an entry fee of $25 000 per person and drew an elite circle of mostly male investment professionals, so we can assume that Fisher thought he’d be in like-minded company.

Unfortunately for him, not everyone with cash is a moron.

Robasciotti estimated that she was about one of 15 women out of roughly 220 attendees. Some other attendees have spoken out about Fisher’s comments despite a non-disclosure agreement they signed in order to attend the event…

“When leaders are telling other people to view women in this particular way, then we don’t rise to the same level as other men in their minds,” Robasciotti told CBS MoneyWatch. Fisher “is basically telling a room of people who aren’t as successful as him how to view the world, and that has a direct impact on my experience in investment management.”

She added, “Everyone was just appalled and just said, ‘I’ve heard this kind of thing before.’ This is why we haven’t had our #MeToo moment.”

Following the backlash, and after waiting two days to see if the whole thing would just go away, Fisher apologised.

“Some of the words and phrases I used during a recent conference to make certain points were clearly wrong and I shouldn’t have made them. I realize this kind of language has no place in our company or industry,” he said. “I sincerely apologize.”

He clearly wasn’t sorry, though, because he also said this in an earlier interview with Bloomberg:

“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 told the media outlet.

Fisher has now been banned from attending future investment advisor summits. Forbes quotes the open letter released by the event organisers, outlining their reasons for barring him from future events:

In the more than 1,500-word note addressed to the wealth and investment management industry, Tiburon Strategic Advisor’s managing partner, Charles “Chip” Roame, didn’t name Fisher but directly addressed the crass comments, which included references to genitalia and “tripping on acid,” and compared building client trust to “trying to get into a girl’s pants.”

“Some offensive comments were made by one fireside chat participant in a session late Tuesday afternoon. There remain disagreements as to exactly what was said, how it was intended, and how it was interpreted,” wrote Roame. “I will speak only for myself today. I was extremely disappointed by the comments that I heard in the way that I understood them.”

Good. Maybe Fisher will learn something from this.

Has anyone else noticed that he looks like a bridge troll?

[source:cbs&forbes]