Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks about higher education and Harvard University at the 28th Milken Institute Global Conference held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 6, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
Bill Ackman’s long-awaited foray into the public markets is set to debut Wednesday, marking a scaled-down but still ambitious step toward building an investment platform like Berkshire Hathaway.
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder’s comprehensive initial public offering raised $5 billion, but the price was set at the low end of expectations after marketing the deal with an initial target of $5 billion to $10 billion. The proceeds are a far cry from the company’s original ambition to raise up to $25 billion two years ago.
The transaction will create two separately traded entities on the New York Stock Exchange. One is Pershing Square USA Ltd., a closed-end fund that trades under the ticker PSUS, and the other is Pershing Square Inc., an asset management company listed as PS. The dual structure allows investors to gain exposure to either the underlying portfolio or the managed business itself.
Arrow pointing outside zoom in icon
“Hedge funds are known for managing the money of the wealthy, and now if you have $50, you have an opportunity to become a long-term shareholder,” Ackman said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Streets.” “Typically, retail trade is severely cut and financial institutions are given preferential treatment. We did the opposite.”
The closed-end fund’s shares are priced at $50 per share and are structured to appeal to both institutional and individual investors, particularly by omitting performance fees. Investors in PSUS will also receive bonus shares in Pershing Square, linking the two companies while maintaining separate transactions.
This listing will give retail investors their first direct stake in Ackman’s investment platform. Ackman runs a concentrated portfolio of 10 large-cap stocks as of the end of 2025, including Amazon, Uber, and Brookfield.
Actual performance and macro hedging
At the heart of Ackman’s pitch is Pershing Square’s long-term revenue profile. Since its founding in 2004, the company has generated cumulative net income of more than 2,600%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of about 836% over the same period, according to roadshow documents.
Another key selling point is the company’s history of macro hedging. Pershing Square credits this strategy with generating huge profits during a period of turmoil. In early 2020, the firm made one of its most high-profile transactions, spending about $27 million on credit protection related to investment-grade and high-yield indexes as the coronavirus pandemic roiled markets. The hedge returned about $2.6 billion within a few weeks, a gain of about 93 times, and helped offset losses elsewhere in the portfolio.
buffett inspiration
Mr. Ackman is taking concrete steps toward his long-held ambition to build a publicly traded company modeled on Berkshire, the conglomerate that Warren Buffett has run for decades. The activist investor has repeatedly cited Mr. Buffett’s evolution as a blueprint for Pershing Square’s future, from managing partnerships to overseeing permanent capital institutions.
The company has emphasized the benefits of permanent capital, a structure that reduces the risk of forced sales in times of market stress and allows for long-term positions. Mr. Ackman argued that such flexibility is essential to growing profits over the long term, following the model that transformed Berkshire from a struggling textiles business into one of the world’s largest investment vehicles.
Ackman said he plans to incorporate elements of Berkshire’s shareholder culture, such as holding an annual meeting where investors can interact directly with management.
“We’re going to have an investor day. We’re going to have a Berkshire Hathaway-style annual meeting, where people come together and ask questions,” Ackman said.
Make CNBC your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted names in business news.
Source link
