Bill AckmanFounder & CEO

Markets are in a highly interesting phase, marked by global conflicts, technological transitions, and high speculation. Multiples look high, but the market-cap-weighted indices are skewed by massive, high-quality businesses. We are still finding compelling, durable growth companies available at cheap valuations.

I am interested in frontier AI models intellectually, but we look for businesses whose trajectories we can predict with high confidence over the next decade. Major technological change makes predicting future cash flows difficult, so we prefer companies whose market positions cannot easily be disrupted.

Uber stock is cheap because investors fear Tesla autonomous taxis will disrupt them. However, Uber has become a dominant platform and a verb in consumer mind share. Consumers will continue using the Uber app as an aggregator to find the fastest, cheapest ride, regardless of who owns the self-driving car.

Investors must evaluate if the price makes sense in light of the company's future. Traditionally, IPOs allowed retail investors to buy in early and make a fortune. But once a company goes public at a trillion-dollar valuation, it is harder for retail investors to capture massive growth.

I do not like businesses where you must continually inject capital over time without a clear point where the lines cross and they become cash flow positive. OpenAI, for example, is consuming tens of billions of dollars, and it remains to be seen how long public markets will fund that.

DEI initially had well-intended goals, but it has actually increased racism and led to discrimination. I am in a unique position where I cannot lose my job for speaking my mind, so I believe it is important to challenge accepted norms and call out bad policies publicly.

I have an excellent relationship with him because I always tell him the truth. He has done a lot right, and his administration's execution of military operations has been outstanding. Like everyone, he has made mistakes, but he generally does a very good job.

Half the country does not own stocks, meaning they do not participate in capital growth. The Trump Savings Plan is basically a 401k for every worker, with a government match. It uses the power of compounding to ensure every American can build meaningful retirement savings.

Rent regulations and left-wing policies make it extremely difficult for developers to build or recover renovation costs. Landlords have pulled sixty thousand rent-regulated units off the market because they cannot afford to update them, creating a massive artificial supply shortage.

Philanthropy is vastly less efficient at solving problems than capitalism. Nonprofits lack equity incentives, market pressures, and the governance discipline that comes with a for-profit enterprise. Capitalism creates sustainable jobs, which is the most effective way to help people.

We just closed on the building for the institute. It is funded with nonprofit capital but will have for-profit elements. We will share equity with the researchers to launch businesses that transfer basic science discoveries into actual treatments for traumatic brain injuries and longevity.

Our mistake at Gotham was mixing private, illiquid assets in a hedge fund where investors could redeem capital. I learned that you must match asset liquidity with liability liquidity. At Pershing Square, we treasure and study our mistakes to ensure we never repeat them.

During our toughest period, our assets fell from eighteen billion to four billion USD. I focused on making progress every day. If you make one percent progress daily, the curve eventually goes vertical. We focused on our core principles, and we have had the best eight years in our history since.

To stabilize the firm, we needed to show our public vehicle, Pershing Square Holdings, had permanent capital. I took out the largest personal unsecured loan in JP Morgan's history, using the money to buy a massive stake in the public fund, signaling my complete conviction to the market.

Carl knew nothing about the company but bought a billion dollars of stock to squeeze our short position. Since then, we have buried the hatchet and hugged it out. The experience taught us that short selling is too dangerous, and we are now completely out of the short-selling business.

Berkshire Hathaway has permanent capital, which allows Warren Buffett to invest for the long term. Typical hedge funds are forced to redeem capital when the herd panics, which destroys value. Permanent capital lets us invest when others are panicking and support companies for years.

Unlike typical firms where compensation is based on individual portfolio ideas, everyone at Pershing is paid based on the performance of the entire portfolio. Every single employee, including our support staff, has meaningful equity, creating a highly stable and collaborative team.