Bill Ackman - Perishing Square Capital Management Portfolio
Bill Ackman - Perishing Square Capital Management Q1 2025 Portfolio
Perishing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund managed by Bill Ackman, disclosed 11 security holdings in their SEC 13F filing for the first quarter of 2025, with a total portfolio value of $11,930,839,008
Bill Ackman's Portfolio
As of Q1 2025, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management portfolio showcases significant strategic shifts with a new leading position and notable adjustments across key holdings. Below is a detailed overview of the top positions and the latest moves since the previous quarter (Q4 2024).
Top Holdings
Portfolio Strategy Analysis
The addition of Uber as the largest position marks a significant strategic shift, reflecting Ackman's confidence in the evolving transportation and delivery ecosystem. This move, combined with his increased stake in Hertz, indicates a conviction in the future of mobility services and their potential for sustained profitability.
Brookfield saw another significant increase following Q4's addition, cementing its position as a cornerstone investment. This escalating stake underscores Ackman's confidence in diversified asset management and real assets as a hedge against inflation and market volatility, while providing exposure to infrastructure, renewable energy, and real estate.
The simultaneous reduction in Alphabet Class C shares (-16.21%) while increasing Class A shares (+11.33%) represents an intriguing rebalancing rather than decreased conviction in Google's parent company. This nuanced approach to Alphabet suggests Ackman is refining his exposure while maintaining a significant stake in one of tech's dominant players.
The dramatic reduction in Hilton (-44.84%) following Q4's substantial cut signals a methodical exit from the hospitality sector. This move likely represents profit-taking after the industry's post-pandemic recovery, with capital being reallocated to higher-conviction opportunities like Uber and Brookfield.
The unchanged position in Restaurant Brands International and only modest reduction in Chipotle highlight Ackman's continued faith in premium consumer brands with strong pricing power. These holdings provide the portfolio with exposure to consistent consumer spending and established brands with loyal customer bases.
Conclusion
Bill Ackman's Q1 2025 portfolio reflects a bold strategic evolution, most notably with the addition of Uber as his largest position. This move, combined with the continued increase in Brookfield and selective reductions in Hilton and Alphabet Class C shares, signals a deliberate reallocation toward high-growth mobility services and diversified real assets.
The maintained positions in Restaurant Brands, Howard Hughes, and Chipotle provide stability through established brands and essential services, while the strategic balancing between Alphabet share classes demonstrates a sophisticated approach to tech exposure. Overall, Ackman's Q1 adjustments suggest a forward-looking strategy that combines new growth opportunities in mobility with inflation-resistant real assets, while maintaining exposure to quality consumer brands.
Pershing Square Portfolio Analysis
Based on 13F filing for reporting period: Q1, 2025
Portfolio Manager
Bill Ackman
Filing Date
May 15, 2025
Total Value
$11,000,000,000+
Number of Positions
11
Portfolio Allocation
Holdings Breakdown
| Rank | Company Name | % of Portfolio | Q1 Activity | Ticker | Shares | Market Value ($) |
|---|
Who is Bill Ackman ?
May 11, 1966:
· William Albert Ackman was born in Chappaqua, New York.
1988:
· Ackman graduates from Harvard University with a degree in economics.
1989:
· Ackman joins Goldman Sachs as an investment banker.
1992:
· Ackman leaves Goldman Sachs to start his own hedge fund, Gotham Partners, with $3 million in capital.
2002:
· Gotham Partners loses 40% of its value due to a bad bet on the telecom industry.
2003:
· Ackman launches Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company based in New York City.
2007:
· Ackman becomes widely known for his high-profile battle with the management of Target Corporation. He acquires a stake in the company and pushes for changes to maximize shareholder value.
2008:
· During the financial crisis, Ackman bets against the bond insurers MBIA and Ambac, predicting their downfall. This bet ultimately proves successful, earning Ackman’s fund billions of dollars in profits.
2011:
· Ackman takes a significant stake in J.C. Penney and becomes its largest shareholder. He attempts to implement major changes in the company’s strategy and leadership, but his efforts fail, resulting in substantial losses for his fund.
2014:
· Ackman becomes involved in a highly publicized short-selling campaign against Herbalife, a multi-level marketing company. He accuses Herbalife of being a pyramid scheme and places a billion-dollar bet against the company’s stock.
2017:
· Ackman exits his short position on Herbalife, admitting that the campaign was not as successful as he initially anticipated. The bet resulted in significant losses for his fund.
2020:
· Ackman gains attention for his early warning about the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a series of interviews, he expresses his concerns about the virus and calls for a nationwide shutdown.
2020:
· Pershing Square Capital Management launches a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH). The SPAC raises $4 billion, making it the largest-ever IPO of a SPAC at the time.
2021:
· PSTH fails to complete a merger deal within its two-year deadline, resulting in the dissolution of the SPAC. Ackman announces plans to launch a new SPAC in the future.
2022:
· Ackman advocates for Universal Music Group (UMG), a division of Vivendi, to go public. Pershing Square Tontine Holdings II (PSTH II), Ackman’s new SPAC, agrees to merge with UMG, valuing the music label at around $40 billion.
2023:
· The merger between PSTH II and Universal Music Group is completed, and UMG starts trading on the Amsterdam Euronext stock exchange.
Interesting facts
Ackman is known for his activist investing approach, often taking significant stakes in companies and pushing for changes to increase shareholder value.
He has been involved in several high-profile battles with company management and has made large bets on both long and short positions.
Ackman is a prominent philanthropist. In 2016, he signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to charitable causes.
He is a well-known advocate for education reform and has supported various organizations focused on improving public schools.
Ackman has a background in real estate and initially worked at his father’s company before venturing into the world of finance.
Bill Ackman's Investing Principles
I’m not emotional about investments. Investing is something where you have to be purely rational and not let emotion affect your decision making – just the facts.
Bill Ackman
Investing is a business where you can look very silly for a long period of time before you are proven right.
Bill Ackman
Short-term market and economic prognostication is largely a fool’s errand, we invest according to a strategy that makes the need to rely on short-term market or economic assessments largely irrelevant.
Bill Ackman
I think most investors overdiversify because they’re lazy. They haven’t done enough research into any of their companies. If they’ve got 200 positions, do you think they know what’s going on at any one of those companies at this moment?
Bill Ackman
What the market tells you in the short term is what a certain subset of people believe. That doesn’t mean they’re right.
Bill Ackman
We invest generally in very good companies that have lost their way. And with better management, enormous value can be created.
Bill Ackman
In the investing business you need a high degree of confidence but you also need a high degree of humbleness and you have to balance those two… Humbleness comes from mistakes.
Bill Ackman
If you can’t predict the cash flows, you don’t know what it’s worth. If you don’t know what it’s worth, you can’t invest.
Bill Ackman
If you’re investing for the long-term, you want to invest in businesses that have very little debt.
Bill Ackman
We expect to continue to concentrate the substantial majority of our capital in about 8 to 12 investments, and estimate that our typical holding period will be long-term, typically four or more years.
Bill Ackman
It’s safest to invest in businesses that aren’t controlled. Unless the controlling shareholder is someone that we trust, unless it’s someone that has a great track record for taking care of all the minority investors, it can be a risky proposition to invest in because you’re at the whim of the controlling shareholder.
Bill Ackman
