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Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman lost his high-profile proxy contest with Target last week, a defeat that reportedly led him to shed a tear or two when he spoke at the company's annual shareholders meeting. It was Ackman's decision to invoke the words of John F. Kennedy, though, that really ticked off New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera, who penned a blistering critique of Ackman's performance on Friday. So how did Ackman respond? He stayed up all night and composed a 5,000-word essay to explain himself: "The tear was not for the loss of a proxy contest as Mr. Nocera implies, but rather in recognition of the significance of JFK's words nearly 50 years ago. It may also have represented some amount of physical and emotional fatigue." Duly noted. [NYT]