No. of Recommendations: 1
“ Billionaire Bill Ackman has an interesting inducement to get investors to buy a new U.S. closed-end equity fund, but whether it will be enough to attract a sizable number of investors remains to be seen. It’s another attempt at offering his new investment fund, Pershing Square USA.
• Investors in that Pershing Square USA investment fund will get 20 “bonus” shares of his Pershing Square Inc. management company for every 100 shares they buy in his investment fund. He aims to raise $5 billion to $10 billion for the Pershing Square USA fund.
• Ackman has filed for a dual initial public offering of his management company and the investment fund on the New York Stock Exchange, in a major test of public investors’ appetite for exposure to his empire. He is banking on his star power to attract investors.
• The incentive is designed to offset a decline in the shares of the closed-end fund once Pershing Square USA starts trading. Ackman secured $2.8 billion in commitments from family offices, pension funds, insurance companies, and ultra-high-net-worth investors, who get 30 bonus shares for every 100 shares bought.
• The Wall Street Journal in late 2025 reported that Ackman, who failed to bring Pershing Square USA public in 2024 amid lackluster demand, could seek a valuation “well over” the $10.5 billion valuation after he sold a 10% stake in his Pershing Square business to investors in 2024.
What’s Next: Ackman is the largest shareholder of the management company that will get a lucrative fee stream of $200 million a year if the closed-end fund raises $10 billion. The offering is expected by the end of this month.
—Andrew Bary, Adam Clark, and Janet H. Cho
