Tiburon Executive: Ken Fisher Will Never Be Invited Back

By John Hilton

Ken Fisher, billionaire money manager of Fisher Investments, is under fire for sexually charged remarks made during a CEO summit this week in San Francisco.

Fisher made the remarks during a "fireside chat" at the Tiburon Advisors' CEO Summit, which has traditionally been a place for industry execs to speak candidly and off the record about their respected fields.

In a statement to media outlets, Fisher admits he made the comments referenced by Alex Chalekian, CEO of Lake Avenue Financial, in a video Chalekian posted to Twitter. In the clip titled "I'm truly disgusted," Chalekian said Fisher made comments about Jeffrey Epstein, taking illicit drugs and picking up women among other lewd things.

The video remains posted today and has been viewed nearly 120,000 times as of noon.

I'm truly disgusted. pic.twitter.com/SKb3dYLV5h

— Alex Chalekian (@AlexChalekian) October 9, 2019

And now Tiburon Managing Partner Chip Roame has spoken for the first time, releasing a statement denouncing Fisher's comments and adding that he "will not ever be invited back."

"These were unacceptable words at Tiburon, in the wealth & investments industry, and in society generally," Roame wrote. "Furthermore, these comments further the inclusion problem in the wealth & investment management industry. And on a related note, I am disgusted to be included in phrases referring to 'old boys clubs.' Tiburon is the opposite. I have worked tirelessly to try to find women speakers and encourage women attendees at the Tiburon CEO Summits."

For his part, Fisher told financial news outlets that his comments were “taken out of context” and “misconstrued,” offering an apology to those he offended.

Brian Hart, founder and president of Flackable, a Philadelphia-based public relations firm, said it was a lost opportunity for the longtime financial titan. Fisher has said that he merely said things he's said many times over the years at many similar talks.

"I think he needs to realize that year over year, his audiences are becoming more diverse," Hart said. "It’s not the good old boys club anymore and that’s a good thing that it’s not. But he’s still giving the same good-old-boys talk and there’s really just not a place for that in a professional setting."

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected].