InsiderFlow › Investors › Bill Ackman
THE ACTIVIST OF PERSHING SQUARE · PERSHING SQUARE
Concentrated activism: a handful of huge positions in large companies, with public campaigns to change them.
Bill Ackman runs Pershing Square with an extreme philosophy: 8–12 positions total, all large, all with a strong thesis. When he believes in an idea he defends it publicly with presentations, letters and interviews — and when he bets against a company, as in the multi-year war on Herbalife, he does it on camera.
His career mixes triumphs and spectacular falls: the Valeant disaster (billions lost) followed by one of the greatest comebacks in hedge fund history, with consecutive years of exceptional returns driven by Chipotle, Hilton and Universal Music.
His most celebrated trade remains the March 2020 Covid hedge: $27 million in credit protection turned into $2.6 billion within weeks — then reinvested buying stocks at the lows.
Pershing Square's positions are public: see the 13F portfolio of Pershing Square or follow it explained in the app.
Pershing Square holds few positions and discloses them in quarterly 13Fs: one of the easiest portfolios to track, and InsiderFlow explains it move by move.
The $4 billion SPAC Ackman launched in 2020, later wound down with funds returned: his least successful experiment.