William Ackman Withdraws Plans for IPO Amid Investor Scrutiny
The billionaire investor William Ackman has decided against ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange anytime soon. His firm, Pershing Square, will retract its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) that aimed to give investors access to a carefully curated portfolio of approximately a dozen stocks selected by Ackman himself. This announcement was made to his 1.3 million followers on the platform X on Wednesday.
This abrupt withdrawal follows a seven-week period during which Ackman conducted over 150 meetings with potential investors to pitch the offering. In his statement, Ackman indicated that he would reevaluate how to structure the offering, promising to “report back once we are ready to launch a revised transaction.”
Just a day prior to this announcement, Pershing Square had disclosed plans for a significantly smaller offering—valued at $2 billion—compared to the initial expectations. Earlier in February, Ackman had expressed ambitions to raise at least $10 billion or more through a U.S. publicly traded vehicle known as Pershing Square USA. More recently, during investor discussions, he even floated the idea of a $25 billion offering.
The motivations behind this potential offering were tied to Ackman’s increasingly vocal stance on various social and political issues. In regulatory filings, he noted that his “brand-name profile and broad retail following” could attract significant investor interest.
- Last year, Ackman orchestrated a vigorous campaign to oust the president of Harvard, Claudine Gay, challenging her handling of antisemitism complaints on campus and amplifying plagiarism allegations against her.
- More recently, he has been outspoken about the upcoming presidential election, publicly endorsing former President Donald J. Trump and predicting a “landslide” victory for him, stating, “The country should rally around Trump and help him succeed.”
Ackman has drawn parallels between his aspirations for his fund and the remarkable long-term returns achieved by Warren E. Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. In addition to Pershing Square USA, Ackman manages another publicly traded fund, Pershing Square Holdings, which is listed in London and Amsterdam.
The journey towards a potential IPO had not been smooth for Ackman and Pershing Square USA. Trading for the fund was originally slated to commence on Tuesday morning but faced delays as the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) needed to review a letter Ackman had sent privately to some existing investors.
In that communication, Ackman acknowledged that several investors had intended to participate in the offering. However, a prominent hedge fund, Baupost Group, which was expected to be a major investor, recently informed Ackman that it would not be purchasing any stock in the offering.
