Bill Ackman
Ackman testifying before Congress in 2016
Born
William Albert Ackman

(1966-05-11) May 11, 1966 (age 57)[1]
Chappaqua, New York, U.S.
Education Harvard University (BA, MBA)
Occupation Hedge fund manager
Title CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management[2]
Spouses
Karen Herskovitz
​
​
(m. 1994; div. 2018)​
[3]
​
(m. 2019)​
[2]
Children 4[4]
Parent
Website pershingsquarecapital.com
Signature

William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company.[5] His investment approach has made him an activist investor.[6][7][8] As of January 2024, Ackman's net worth was estimated at $4 billion by Forbes.[9]

Early life and education

Ackman was raised in Chappaqua, New York, the son of Ronnie I. (née Posner) and Lawrence David Ackman, the former chairman of a New York real estate financing firm, Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group.[10][11][12] He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.[13][14][15] In 1988, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in social studies from Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His thesis was titled Scaling the Ivy Wall: The Jewish and Asian American Experience in Harvard Admissions.[16] In 1992, he received a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.[17]

Career

Gotham Partners

In 1992, Ackman founded the investment firm Gotham Partners with fellow Harvard graduate David P. Berkowitz.[18] The firm made small investments in public companies.[10] In 1995, Ackman partnered with the insurance and real estate firm Leucadia National to bid for Rockefeller Center. Although they did not win the deal, the bid generated interest in Gotham from investors: three years later, Gotham had $500 million in assets under management (AUM).[10] By 2002, Gotham had become entrenched in litigation with various external shareholders who also owned an interest in the companies in which Gotham invested.[10]

In 2002 Ackman researched MBIA in order to challenge Standard & Poor's AAA rating of its bonds. He was charged fees for copying 725,000 pages of statements regarding the financial services company as part of his law firm's compliance with a subpoena. Ackman called for a division between MBIA's structured finance business and its municipal bond insurance business.[19][20]

He argued that MBIA was legally restricted from trading billions of dollars of credit default swap (CDS) protection that MBIA had sold against various mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), and was using a second corporation, LaCrosse Financial Products, which MBIA described as an "orphaned transformer". Ackman bought credit default swaps against MBIA corporate debt and sold them for a large profit during the financial crisis of 2007–2008. He reported covering his short position on MBIA on January 16, 2009, according to the 13D filed with the SEC.[21]

In 2003, a feud developed between Ackman and Carl Icahn over a deal involving Hallwood Realty. They agreed to a "shmuck insurance" arrangement, under which, if Icahn were to sell the shares within 3 years and made a profit of 10% or more, he and Ackman would split the proceeds. Icahn paid $80 per share. In April 2004, HRPT Property Trust acquired Hallwood, paying $136.16 per share. Under the terms of the "contract", Icahn owed Ackman and his investors about $4.5 million. Icahn refused to pay. Ackman sued. Eight years later, Icahn was forced to pay the $4.5 million plus 9% interest per year, by court order.[22]

Pershing Square Capital Management

In 2004,[2] with $54 million from his personal funds and from his former business partner Leucadia National, Ackman started Pershing Square Capital Management.[10]

In 2010 Pershing started buying J. C. Penney shares, paying an average of $22 for 39 million shares or 18% of J.C. Penney's stock. In August 2013, the two-year campaign to transform the department store came to an abrupt end when Ackman stepped down from the board following a disagreement with fellow board members.[23]

In January 2015, LCH Investments named Ackman one of the world's top 20 hedge fund managers after Pershing Square delivered $4.5 billion in net gains for investors in 2014, bringing the fund's lifetime gains to $11.6 billion since its launch in 2004 through year-end 2014.[24]

Ackman, Valeant CEO Michael Pearson, and Valeant CFO Howard Schiller testifying in front of Congress on April 27, 2016

On April 27, 2016, Ackman, along with Valeant Pharmaceuticals' outgoing CEO, J. Michael Pearson, and the company's former interim CEO, Howard Schiller, testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.[25] The testifying panel answered questions related to the committee's concerns about repercussions to patients and the health care system posed by Valeant's business model and controversial pricing practices.[25] Ackman opened his testimony saying, "As a shareholder of Valeant, I recognize my investment was an… endorsement of Valeant's strategy."[25] Ackman sold his remaining 27.2 million share position in Valeant to the investment bank Jefferies for about $300 million in March 2017. It has been estimated that the total cost of the position, including direct stock purchases and 9.1 million shares that were underlying stock options traded with Nomura Global Financial Products, was $4.6 billion, leading to a substantial loss.[26][27]

Herbalife short

In December 2012, Ackman issued a research report that criticized Herbalife's multi-level marketing business model, calling it a pyramid scheme.[28] Ackman disclosed that his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, sold short the company's shares directly (not with derivatives) starting in May 2012, causing Herbalife's stock price to drop.

A few months after Ackman's initial comments, billionaire investor Carl Icahn challenged Ackman's comment in a public spat on national TV. Shortly thereafter, Icahn bought shares of Herbalife International (HLF). As Icahn continued to buy up HLF shares, the stock price continued to show strength.[29] By May 2013, Icahn owned 16.5% of the company.[30] That number had declined to 6.4% by November 2013.[31]

In 2014, Ackman spent $50 million on a public relations campaign against Herbalife.[32]

Former Representative Bob Barr (R-GA) called on Congress to investigate Ackman's use of public relations and regulatory pressure in his short campaign, and Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), questioned whether Ackman aimed to move the price rather than spread the truth.[33][34] In 2014, Senator Ed Markey wrote letters to federal regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the SEC, demanding they open an investigation into Herbalife's business practices. The day the letters were released, the company's stock dropped 14%. Markey later told the Boston Globe that his staff had not informed him that Ackman stood to benefit financially from his actions and defended the letters as a matter of consumer rights.[35] The New York Times reported that Ackman had donated $32,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on 30 April 2013, the same day Markey won the Democratic primary for the Senate special election in Massachusetts. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee subsequently donated a significant sum to Markey's campaign just over a month later.[36]

In March 2014, The New York Times reported that Ackman had employed tactics to undermine public confidence in Herbalife to lower its stock price, including pressuring state and federal regulators to investigate the company, paying individuals to travel to and participate in rallies against it, and boosting Pershing Square's spending on donations to nonprofit Latino organizations. According to the article, groups such as the Hispanic Federation and the National Consumers League sent federal regulators numerous letters. "Each person contacted by The Times acknowledged in interviews that they wrote the letters after being lobbied by representatives from Pershing Square, or said they did not remember writing the letters at all. Mr. Ackman's team also then started to make payments totaling about $130,000 to some of these groups, including the Hispanic Federation — money he said was being used to help find victims of Herbalife."[34]

By December 2, 2014, stock prices had fallen nearly 50% to $42.08 from their January 8 high of $83.48.[37] Later that month, Pershing Square Capital released a 2005 Herbalife distributor training session, in which an employee described high turnover rates and implied that the company's business model was not sustainable.[38][39] In an interview with Bloomberg, Ackman predicted that the company would experience an "implosion" in 2015 or early 2016, citing federal scrutiny and debt.[39][40]

On March 12, 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the FBI were investigating whether people hired by Ackman "made false statements about Herbalife's business model to regulators and others in order to spur investigations into the company and lower its stock price".[41][42] In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer, in Los Angeles, California, dismissed a suit filed by Herbalife investors alleging the company is operating an illegal pyramid scheme. In response to Fischer's ruling, Herbalife stock rose approximately 13%.[43] Herbalife and the FTC reached a settlement agreement in July 2016, ending the agency's investigation into the company. On the day of the settlement, Fortune estimated that Ackman lost $500 million.[44]

Ackman's position on Herbalife led to a discussion on live television with Herbalife supporter Carl Icahn for nearly half an hour on CNBC on January 25, 2013.[45][46][47] During the segment, Icahn called Ackman "a crybaby in the schoolyard" and claimed that going public with his short position would eventually force Ackman into the "mother of all short squeezes". On November 22, 2013, Ackman admitted on Bloomberg Television that Pershing Square's open short position in Herbalife was "$400 million to $500 million" in the red, but that he wouldn't be squeezed out and would hold the short "to the end of the earth".[48]

In November 2017, Ackman told Reuters that he had covered his short-sell position, but would continue to bet against Herbalife using put options with no more than 3% of Pershing Square's funds.[49]

On February 28, 2018, Ackman exited his near billion-dollar bet against Herbalife after the company's stock price continued to rise.[50]

COVID-19 response

Ahead of the 2020 stock market crash, Ackman hedged Pershing Square's portfolio, investing $27 million to purchase credit protection, insuring the portfolio against steep market losses.[51] Pershing Square first disclosed the hedge on March 3, 2020. According to Reuters, "Ackman said hedging was preferable to selling off his portfolio of companies whose businesses are otherwise strong."[52] The hedge was effective, generating $2.6 billion in less than one month.[53]

On March 18, 2020, in an emotional interview with CNBC, Ackman called upon President Trump for a "30-day shutdown" of the American economy to slow the spread of coronavirus and minimize loss of life and ensuing economic destruction resulting from the shutdown.[54] Ackman warned that without intervention, hotel stocks were "going to zero" and said that America could "end as we know it". He also cautioned U.S. companies to stop stock buyback programs because "hell is coming".[55]

Ackman later received criticism for actively buying discounted equity stakes in the very companies he was warning could fail;[56] however, Ackman already had realized roughly half of the gains before appearing during the CNBC interview.[57]

In a November 2020 interview, Ackman said that he had grown concerned about COVID-19 because he had seen the film Contagion.[58]

Investment style

Ackman has said that his most successful investments have always been controversial, and that his first rule of activist investing is to "make a bold call that nobody believes in".[59]

His most notable market plays include shorting MBIA's bonds during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, his proxy fight with Canadian Pacific Railway,[60][61] and his stakes in the Target Corporation, Valeant Pharmaceuticals,[62] and Chipotle Mexican Grill.[63] From 2012 to 2018, Ackman held a US$1 billion short against the nutrition company Herbalife, a company he has described as a pyramid scheme designed as a multi-level marketing firm.[64] His efforts were reported in the documentary film Betting on Zero.[65]

After weak performance in 2015–2018, Ackman told investors in January 2018 that he was going to go back to basics by cutting staff, ending investor visits that were eating into his time, and hunkering down in the office to do research. The next year, Pershing Square returned 58.1%, which Reuters says qualified it as "one of the world's best performing hedge funds" for 2019.[66]

Ackman has said that he admires short sellers such as Carson Block of Muddy Waters Capital and Andrew Left of Citron Research.[67]

Philanthropy

He is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, committing himself to give away at least 50% of his wealth by the end of his life to charitable causes.[68]

Ackman has given to charitable causes such as the Center for Jewish History,[69] where he spearheaded a successful effort to retire $30 million in debt, personally contributing $6.8 million.[70][71] The donation, along with those of Bruce Berkowitz, founder of Fairholme Capital Management, and Joseph Steinberg, president of Leucadia National, were the three largest individual gifts the center has ever received.[72]

Ackman's foundation donated $1.1 million to the Innocence Project in New York City and Centurion Ministries in Princeton, New Jersey.[70]

In 2006, Ackman, and then wife Karen, founded the Pershing Square Foundation to support innovation in economic development, education, healthcare, human rights, arts and urban development.[73][74] The foundation is a major donor to Planned Parenthood.[75] Since its inception, the foundation has committed more than $400 million in grants since 2006.[13] In 2011, the Ackmans were on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's "Philanthropy 50" list of the most generous donors.[76]

In July 2014, Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides sports equipment to those with physical disabilities, honored Ackman at a gala fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City for helping raise a record $2.3 million.[77]

On March 15, 2021, he announced that he donated 26.5 million shares in South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, valued at $1.36 billion, to three entities, one of them his own foundation.[78]

In December 2022, Ackman auctioned a luncheon with himself for charity in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation. The proceeds would go toward helping "New York's frontline healthcare workers, police and veterans who battle anxiety, depression, addiction and suicidality every day", with Ackman matching the winning bid to support the foundation. The highest winning bid over prior instances was $210,000.[79]

Ackman is a supporter of David M. Sabatini, a biologist who was previously fired by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and resigned from the Whitehead Institute and MIT due to allegations and investigations of sexual misconduct. On March 1, 2022, at a Pershing Square Foundation event, he delivered remarks about Sabatini's unfair treatment.[80] In February 2023, Ackman announced that his foundation and an anonymous donor would together fund Sabatini US$25 million over five years to establish and run a new research laboratory.[81][82]

Personal views

In October 2023, following the onset of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, several Harvard undergraduate student groups signed a letter condemning the Israeli state. The statement held the "Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," declared that millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been "forced to live in an open-air prison," and called on Harvard to "take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians." In response, Ackman called for the publication of the names of all students involved in signing the letter so that he could ensure his company and others do not "inadvertently hire" any of the signatories. Ackman posted, "One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists," and the names "should be made public so their views are publicly known".[83] Ackman's stance was supported by other CEOs such as Jonathan Neman, David Duel and Jake Wurzak.[84] Former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, though agreeing with Ackman on the need to look at employees' political views, called Ackman's request for a list of names "the stuff of Joe McCarthy".[85]

In November, Ackman defended Elon Musk after the latter expressed agreement with a user who asserted that "Jewish communities" supported "hordes of minorities flooding their country" and pushed "dialectical hatred against whites", describing it as "shoot from the hip commentary".[86][87]

Personal life

Ackman married Karen Ann Herskovitz, a landscape architect, on July 10, 1994.[88] They have three children.[13] On December 22, 2016, it was reported that the couple had separated.[3]

In 2018, Ackman became engaged to Neri Oxman.[89] In January 2019, Oxman and Ackman married at the Central Synagogue in Manhattan,[13] and they had their first child together in spring 2019.[90] In August 2019, Ackman wrote to MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito to discourage him from mentioning Oxman when discussing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had donated $125,000 to Oxman's lab.[91]

Ackman endorsed Michael Bloomberg as a prospective candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election.[92] He is a longtime donor to Democratic candidates and organizations, including Richard Blumenthal, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.[93]

Ackman owned a Gulfstream G550 business jet, as of 2017.[94][95]

Books

References

  1. ^ Gordon, Amanda (May 12, 2013). "Scene Last Night: Icahn, Ackman, Bruce Richards, Gloria Steinem". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "#1941 William Ackman". Forbes. Forbes Media LLC. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Bill Ackman reportedly splitting with wife in big-money divorce". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  4. ^ Celarier, Michelle (June 16, 2021). "Bill Ackman Sent a Text to the CEO of Mastercard. What Happened Next Is a Parable for ESG". Institutional Investor. ISSN 0020-3580. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023.
  5. ^ O'Donnell, Carl; Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (November 23, 2015). "Ackman boosts stake in drugmaker Valeant". New York, N.Y., United States: Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  6. ^ "What Activist Investors Do, According to Bill Ackman". finance.yahoo.com. March 25, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bill Ackman: what I think of GameStop and shareholder activism". www.ii.co.uk. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  8. ^ English, Carleton. "Activist investor Bill Ackman is now feeling positive about the markets". www.fnlondon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "William Ackman". Forbes. 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e Serres, Chris (January 13, 2008). "William Ackman: Targeting Target". United States: StarTribune (Minnesota). Star Tribune Media Company, LLC. Archived from the original on May 29, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  11. ^ "Miss Ronnie I. Posner Bride of L.D. Ackman". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. October 7, 1963. p. 27. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  12. ^ Holden Walter-Warner (June 2, 2022). "Larry Ackman, former Ackman-Ziff CEO, dies". The Real Deal.
  13. ^ a b c d Mallozzi, Vincent (January 19, 2019). "As If by Design, Their Connection Was Inevitable". The New York Times. New York, N.Y., United States. The New York Times Company. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 17, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  14. ^ "Jews take 5 of top 6 spots in annual list of top US givers". The Jerusalem Post. September 2, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012.
  15. ^ Joffe, Alex (February 23, 2011). "Jewish Philanthropy 2.0". ejewishphilanthropy.co. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012.
  16. ^ Ackman, William Albert. "Scaling the ivy wall: the Jewish and Asian American experience in Harvard admissions". Classify. OCLC Research. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  17. ^ Ackman profile Archived January 21, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, harvard.edu; retrieved December 24, 2015.
  18. ^ Fromson, Brett (July 10, 1994). "The Rookies' Big Score". The Washington Post. United States. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  19. ^ "MBIA: Call to divide not viable". CNN. February 20, 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  20. ^ "MBIA's biggest bear". The Globe and Mail. February 1, 2008 – via Bloomberg News.
  21. ^ "Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Files 13D on Borders, Covers MBIA Short". market folly. marketfolly.com. January 26, 2009. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  22. ^ Lopez, Linette (January 25, 2013). "Here's the 'Shmuck Insurance' Contract that Carl Icahn Just Mentioned on CNBC..." United States: Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  23. ^ Wahba, Phil; Goldstein, Matthew (August 13, 2013). "Ackman quits J.C.Penney board, removing distraction". New York, NY: Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  24. ^ Cosgrave, Jenny (January 26, 2015). "Ackman's returns make him a top 20 fund manager". CNBC.com. CNBC. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  25. ^ a b c Lopez, Linette (April 27, 2016). "Bill Ackman and Valeant Execs just got through one of the most brutal Senate hearings we've ever seen". Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  26. ^ Levine, Matt (March 14, 2017). "Bill Ackman Is Done Losing Money on Valeant". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  27. ^ Vardi, Nathan (March 13, 2017). "Billionaire Bill Ackman Sells Disastrous Valeant Investment After Nearly $4 Billion Loss". Forbes. Forbes Media LLC. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  28. ^ Alden, William (December 20, 2012). "Ackman Outlines Bet Against Herbalife". The New York Times. No. DealBook. United States. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  29. ^ O'Toole, James (February 14, 2013). "Icahn challenges Ackman with 13% Herbalife stake". CNN Money. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  30. ^ Benoit, David (May 7, 2013). "Carl Icahn Buys More Herbalife". The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition. No. Blogs. United States: Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  31. ^ Stanford, Duane (November 20, 2013). "Stiritz Boosts Herbalife Stake, Seeks Strategy Talks". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  32. ^ "Bill Ackman Says He's Spent $50 Million on Herbalife Battle". Thestreet. The Street. July 21, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  33. ^ "Congress Should Launch Investigation of Short Sale Market". Roll Call. April 20, 2015. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  34. ^ a b Schmidt, Michael (March 9, 2014). "After Big Bet, Hedge Fund Pulls the Levers of Power". The New York Times. United States. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  35. ^ "Markey says he was unaware actions would aid firm's rival". Boston Globe. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  36. ^ Alden, William; Schmidt, Michael S. (January 23, 2014). "Senator Is Lobbying for Inquiry on Herbalife". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  37. ^ Stempel, Jonathan (December 3, 2014). "Herbalife wins court approval for class-action settlement". Yahoo! News. Reuters. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  38. ^ "Top Herbalife Salesman Acknowledges High Failure Rate In Video". Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. December 17, 2014. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  39. ^ a b Whitehouse, Kaja (December 17, 2014). "Bill Ackman takes shot at Herbalife with new video". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  40. ^ Stanford, Duane (December 19, 2017). "Ackman Says Former Herbalife Workers Turn State's Evidence". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  41. ^ Lopez, Linette (March 13, 2015). "REPORT: The FBI is investigating Bill Ackman over Herbalife". Business Insider. Business Insider Inc. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  42. ^ Holm, Erik (March 13, 2015). "Bill Ackman Not Backing Down On Herbalife". The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition. No. MoneyBeatBlogs. United States: Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  43. ^ Zacks Equity Research (March 20, 2015). "Herbalife Soars as Judge Dismisses Lawsuit (revised)". Yahoo Finance. Verizon Media. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  44. ^ Wieczner, Jen (July 15, 2016). "The Real Winners and Losers in the Herbalife-Bill Ackman War". Fortune. Fortune Media IP Limited. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  45. ^ "The Icahn-Ackman Feud". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  46. ^ "Men Dislike Each Other, Might Also Have Opinions On A Stock". Dealbreaker. Dealbreaker.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  47. ^ Cohan, William (March 7, 2013). "The Big Short War". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on August 9, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  48. ^ Stevenson, Alexandra (November 22, 2013). "Ackman Vows to Take Bet Against Herbalife 'to the End of the Earth'". The New York Times. No. DealBook. United States. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  49. ^ Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (November 1, 2017). "Ackman makes new bet against Herbalife with options". USA: Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  50. ^ Benoit, David (March 1, 2018). "Bill Ackman Surrenders in His Five-Year War Against Herbalife". The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition. USA: Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  51. ^ "Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. Releases Letter to Investors". Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. March 25, 2020. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  52. ^ Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (March 3, 2020). "Ackman hedges to protect against coronavirus' 'negative' impact". Reuters. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  53. ^ Driebusch, Corrie (March 25, 2020). "Ackman Has Big Win on Bearish Market Bet". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  54. ^ Franck, Thomas (March 18, 2020). "Investor Bill Ackman advises Trump to shut down the country, saying stock market 'will soar'". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  55. ^ Franck, Thomas (March 27, 2020). "Bill Ackman says accusations he tried to drive down market in interview are 'absurd'". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  56. ^ Neate, Rupert (March 27, 2020). "'Hell is coming': how Bill Ackman's TV interview tanked the markets and made him $2.6bn". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  57. ^ English, Carleton. "Bill Ackman Defends CNBC Interview and $2.6 Billion Profit in Letter to Investors". Barron's. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  58. ^ GmbH, finanzen net. "Billionaire investor Bill Ackman discussed his pandemic hedge, praised Trump, and explained his Berkshire Hathaway exit in a recent interview. Here are the 19 best quotes". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  59. ^ "Bill Ackman's Rules For Investing Like a Maverick". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  60. ^ McNish, Jacquie (March 7, 2022). "William Ackman Takes Stake in Canadian Pacific". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022.
  61. ^ Squire, Kenneth (March 12, 2022). "Ackman's Pershing Square is back at Canadian Pacific". CNBC.
  62. ^ Vardi, Nathan (March 13, 2017). "Billionaire Bill Ackman Sells Disastrous Valeant Investment After Nearly $4 Billion Loss". Forbes.
  63. ^ Morris, Chris (April 20, 2022). "Bill Ackman bet $1.1 billion on Netflix months ago and now he's taking a beating. But the famed investor has doubled down before—and come out ahead". Fortune.
  64. ^ Parloff, Roger (September 9, 2015). "The siege of Herbalife". Fortune. Fortune Media IP Limited. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  65. ^ Carroll, Rory (April 11, 2017). "Betting on Zero: Herbalife doc feeds investors' feud as director claims 'dirty tricks'". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  66. ^ "Ackman avoids limelight even as Pershing Square posts record 2019". Reuters. January 9, 2020. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2020 – via www.reuters.com.
  67. ^ Parrish, Shane (April 28, 2020). "The Knowledge Project #82 — Bill Ackman". Youtube. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  68. ^ Jewish Voice New York: "Jewish Billionaires Join Group Pledging Majority of Their Wealth to Charity" by Sholom Schreiber Archived June 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine April 25, 2005
  69. ^ The Center For Jewish History: "Single Largest Fund-Raising Effort Since Building was Completed in 2000" Archived January 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine January 24, 2011
  70. ^ a b The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "A Brash Hedge-Fund Manager Applies His Tactics to Philanthropy" By Caroline Preston Archived November 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine February 6, 2011
  71. ^ Business Insider: "What The Richest People On Wall Street's Charity Donations Say About Them" by Mamta Badkar and Courtney Comstock Archived May 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine November 12, 2010
  72. ^ The Jewish Week: "History Center In The Black" by Tamar Snyder Archived October 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine January 25, 2011
  73. ^ "Founders". Pershing Square Foundation website. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  74. ^ "Bill Ackman: The fighter". Jewish Business News. February 3, 2013. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  75. ^ "Planned Parenthood". Pershing Square Foundation. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  76. ^ "Philanthropy 50". Philanthropy.com. February 6, 2011. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  77. ^ Wieczner, Jen (July 21, 2014). "New hedgie standoff: 'frenemies' Bill Ackman and Dan Loeb compete in charitable giving". Fortune. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  78. ^ "Billionaire Ackman donates millions of Coupang shares to foundation, others". finance.yahoo.com. March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  79. ^ Paulina, Cachero (December 8, 2022). "Lunch With Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman Will Cost You at Least $25,000". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022.
  80. ^ Wadman, Meredith (April 25, 2022). "NYU may hire biologist pushed out of MIT, Whitehead for sexual misconduct". Science. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  81. ^ Ackman, Bill [@billackman] (February 2, 2023). "I am pleased to announce that last night at @PershingSqFdn scientific advisors dinner, we announced that we found a 50% funding partner for the new Sabatini lab.The new lab now has $5m of funding per year for five years. David is now making launch preparations for the lab. Allez!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Twitter.
  82. ^ Wadman, Meredith (February 3, 2023). "David Sabatini, biologist fired for sexual misconduct, lands millions from private donors to start new lab". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  83. ^ Egan, Matt (October 11, 2023). "Harvard student groups issued an anti-Israel statement. CEOs want them blacklisted | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  84. ^ "Billionaire Ackman, Others Pledge They Won't Hire Harvard Students Who Signed Letter Blaming Israel For Hamas Attack". Forbes. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  85. ^ Teo, Kai Xiang. "Former Harvard president Larry Summers thinks Bill Ackman asking for lists of student names is the 'stuff of Joe McCarthy'". Business Insider. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  86. ^ Squire, Paul (December 8, 2023). "Why Bill Ackman says Harvard needs to answer for antisemitism, but says Elon Musk's comments are OK". Business Insider.
  87. ^ "Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities [they supported] flooding their country don't exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is". Twitter. November 15, 2023.
  88. ^ "WEDDINGS; Karen Herskovitz, William Ackman". The New York Times. United States. The New York Times Company. July 10, 1994. p. 37. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  89. ^ Sullivan, Mark (October 9, 2018). "Activist investor Bill Ackman is engaged to rockstar professor Neri Oxman". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  90. ^ Riley Cardoza, "Brad Pitt’s MIT Professor Crush Neri Oxman Gives Birth to Her First Child" Archived March 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, US Magazine, August 9, 2019
  91. ^ Rummler, Orion (September 14, 2019). "Hedge fund manager told Joi Ito to keep his wife's name out of Jeffrey Epstein saga". Axios. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  92. ^ Ackman, William (February 11, 2016). "America is burning but Michael Bloomberg can put out the fire". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  93. ^ "FEC Individual Contribution Search". Federal Election Commission. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  94. ^ Cohan, William D. (March 7, 2013). "The Big Short War". Vanity Fair.
  95. ^ Kolhatkar, Sheelah (February 26, 2017). "Financiers Fight Over the American Dream". The New Yorker.
  96. ^ investarygroup (July 23, 2014), Pershing Square Bill Ackman Herbalife Presentation 2014 (FULL PRESENTATION), archived from the original on August 19, 2017, retrieved January 21, 2017

Further reading