William Ackman Halts IPO Plans After Intensive Campaign

Billionaire Investor William Ackman Halts IPO Plans

Billionaire investor William Ackman has decided against ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange anytime soon. His investment firm, Pershing Square, will retract its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) that would have allowed investors to buy into a curated portfolio of approximately a dozen stocks selected by him. Mr. Ackman made this announcement to his 1.3 million followers on the social media platform X on Wednesday. This sudden withdrawal comes after an intensive seven-week campaign, during which he held over 150 meetings to pitch the offering to potential investors.

In his statement, Mr. Ackman indicated that he would revisit the structure of the proposed offering and promised 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—$2 billion—compared to the original projections he had made earlier. Back in February, Mr. Ackman expressed ambitions to raise $10 billion or more through a publicly traded vehicle in the U.S., named Pershing Square USA. More recently, during investor discussions, he had even floated the possibility of raising $25 billion.

The intentions behind the IPO were fueled by Mr. Ackman’s increasingly vocal stance on various social and political issues. In regulatory filings, he mentioned that his “brand-name profile and broad retail following” could generate substantial investor interest. Last year, he led a forceful and successful public campaign to oust Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University, questioning her handling of antisemitism complaints on campus and amplifying allegations of plagiarism against her.

In the weeks leading up to the decision, Mr. Ackman has been particularly outspoken on topics such as the presidential election, openly endorsing former President Donald J. Trump and predicting a “landslide” victory for him, urging, “The country should rally around Trump and help him succeed.”

Mr. Ackman has drawn parallels between his aspirations for his fund and the impressive long-term returns achieved by Warren E. Buffett with Berkshire Hathaway. His firm also manages another publicly traded fund, Pershing Square Holdings, which is listed on exchanges in London and Amsterdam.

The journey toward a potential offering has been anything but smooth for Mr. Ackman and his team at Pershing Square USA. Initially, trading in the fund was slated to commence on Tuesday morning; however, it was postponed due to the necessity for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review a letter Mr. Ackman had privately dispatched to select existing investors in his firm. In that correspondence, he noted that several investors had expressed intentions to participate in the offering. Notably, the Baupost Group, a hedge fund that Mr. Ackman identified as a major potential investor, recently declared that it would not be purchasing any of the stock.