Bill Ackman
FOLLOWPershing Square Capital Management
Highly concentrated activist investor evolving toward quality compounders; exceptional transparency but volatile track record with some ego-driven mistakes.
Macro / Global Strategists
Current Portfolio
2025-Q4 · 11 positions · Filed 2026-02-17
| # | Ticker | Value | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BXDIF | $2.8B | 18.1% Est. ~16.3% of total Conviction |
| 2 | UBER | $2.5B | 15.9% Est. ~14.3% of total Conviction |
| 3 | AMZN | $2.2B | 14.3% Est. ~12.9% of total Conviction |
| 4 | GOOG | $1.9B | 12.5% Est. ~11.2% of total Conviction |
| 5 | META | $1.8B | 11.4% Est. ~10.2% of total Conviction |
| 6 | RESTAURANT BRANDS | $1.6B | 10.1% Est. ~9.0% of total Conviction |
| 7 | HHH | $1.5B | 9.7% Est. ~8.7% of total |
| 8 | HILTON WORLDWIDE | $870.0M | 5.6% Est. ~5.0% of total |
| 9 | GOOGL | $212.3M | 1.4% Est. ~1.2% of total |
| 10 | SEAPORT ENTMT | $99.3M | 0.6% Est. ~0.6% of total |
| 11 | HERTZ GLOBAL | $78.3M | 0.5% Est. ~0.5% of total |
Allocation
Recent Changes
2025-Q4 vs 2025-Q3Portfolio +6.0%
| Action | Ticker | Shares Change | Value Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEW | META | +2.7M | +$1.8B Est. bought $589.15–$751.67 |
| SOLD | CMG | -21.5M(-100%) | $-844.2M |
| INCREASED | AMZN | +3.8M(+65%) | +$939.1M Est. bought $213.04–$254 |
| INCREASED | BXDIF | +20.4M(+50%) | +$4.6M Est. bought $8.42–$9.01 |
| DECREASED | GOOGL | -4.2M(-86%) | $-965.3M |
| DECREASED | GOOG | -160K(-3%) | +$394.0M |
Score Breakdown
Investment Philosophy & Portfolio Style
Philosophy
Ackman's philosophy blends value investing with activist engagement. He seeks 'simple, predictable, free-cash-flow-generative' businesses with durable competitive advantages that he can buy at a discount to intrinsic value. He focuses on large-cap, high-quality businesses where he can identify a catalyst for value realization — often through operational improvements, capital structure changes, or strategic shifts that he actively pushes for. He has described his approach as buying 'great businesses at fair prices' rather than 'fair businesses at great prices,' increasingly moving toward quality over deep value. His investment horizon is medium to long-term (2-5 years typically), but he can hold winners much longer (e.g., Hilton, Chipotle). He uses fundamental analysis, builds detailed financial models, and often makes very public investment pitches. He has historically used some options/hedging but primarily runs a long-biased equity portfolio.
Portfolio Style
Extremely concentrated: typically 8-12 positions, with top 5 holdings representing 70-80%+ of the portfolio. Long-biased with occasional short positions (most notably the disastrous Herbalife short). Recent 13F filings show core holdings including Alphabet (GOOGL), Hilton Worldwide (HLT), Brookfield Corporation (BN), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Howard Hughes Holdings (HHH), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Nike (NKE), and Seaport Entertainment. He has evolved from pure activist plays toward owning high-quality compounders. The Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) closed-end fund trades on the London Stock Exchange and has persistently traded at a wide discount to NAV (20-30%), which led to the attempted Pershing Square USA IPO in 2024 (ultimately pulled).
Background
Bill Ackman (b. 1966) is an American billionaire activist investor and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund managing approximately $16-18B in AUM. He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He co-founded Gotham Partners in 1992, which closed after a series of failed investments. In 2004 he launched Pershing Square, which became one of the most prominent activist hedge funds. Ackman is known for his highly concentrated, high-conviction activist positions where he takes large stakes and pushes for operational or governance changes. He runs one of the most concentrated portfolios in the hedge fund world, typically holding only 8-12 positions. He also launched Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, the largest-ever SPAC ($4B) in 2020, which ultimately failed to complete a deal and returned capital to shareholders. He has become a prominent public figure on social media (X/Twitter) commenting on politics, culture, and markets.
Track Record
Mixed but with periods of exceptional returns. Since inception in 2004, Pershing Square has generated approximately 15-16% net annualized returns, outperforming the S&P 500. Major wins include: Canadian Pacific Railway (turned $1.4B into $3.6B through activist campaign), Chipotle (bought during food safety crisis, 3-4x return), a legendary $2.6B profit from a $27M COVID hedge in March 2020 (one of the greatest single trades ever), and Hilton Worldwide (held since 2018, significant compounder). Major losses include: Valeant Pharmaceuticals ($4B loss — his worst investment ever, nearly destroyed the fund), Herbalife short ($1B+ loss over 5 years in a very public battle with Carl Icahn), JC Penney ($500M+ loss), Target activist campaign (loss), and the failed Pershing Square Tontine SPAC. His 2015-2017 period was terrible (cumulative -30%+), but he recovered strongly 2019-2024. 2024 returns were approximately 22% net.
Notable Holdings
Current core portfolio (as of late 2024/early 2025 13F): Alphabet (GOOGL) — largest position, Hilton Worldwide (HLT), Brookfield Corporation (BN), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Howard Hughes Holdings (HHH), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Nike (NKE), Seaport Entertainment. Historical notable positions: Canadian Pacific Railway, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Herbalife (short), General Growth Properties, Chipotle (bought during crisis).
Transparency & Integrity
Transparency(Score: 9/10)
High transparency for a hedge fund. Ackman frequently makes detailed public investment presentations (sometimes 100+ slides), publishes annual letters, and is extremely active on social media where he shares market views and investment rationale. Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) reports monthly NAV. However, he can be selectively transparent — sometimes using publicity as a tool for his activist campaigns. His positions are visible through 13F filings quarterly. He is one of the most publicly visible hedge fund managers in the world.
Integrity(Score: 7/10)
Generally high but with notable controversies. The Valeant debacle raised questions about his due diligence and judgment — the company engaged in predatory drug pricing and accounting irregularities while he was on the board. His very public Herbalife short, while ultimately wrong, was motivated partly by genuine concern about the company's MLM model. His COVID hedge was legal and brilliant but some criticized the timing of his public comments about market risks while holding the hedge. More recently, his political activism (anti-DEI, anti-Harvard campaigns) has been polarizing. He has generally been forthright about his losses and has acknowledged mistakes publicly. No personal fraud or legal issues. His SPAC failure was embarrassing but he returned all capital to investors.
Relevance to Us
Moderate-high relevance. Ackman's concentrated, conviction-driven approach aligns well with our philosophy. His focus on high-quality businesses with durable moats and his willingness to hold winners for years (Hilton, Chipotle) are aligned. His evolving move toward quality compounders over deep value activist plays brings him closer to our style. However, key differences exist: (1) he uses activist engagement as a catalyst, which we don't do, (2) he has historically used leverage and short positions, which we avoid, (3) his investment horizon is typically 2-5 years, shorter than our 5-10+ year preference, (4) he can be emotional and ego-driven in positions (Herbalife), (5) his risk management has failed spectacularly at times (Valeant). His concentrated style and willingness to make big bets are aligned. His Alphabet position suggests some AI/tech awareness, and his public commentary has shown increasing awareness of AI's transformative potential. Worth following for his concentrated high-conviction picks and detailed investment theses.