You can now invest in Ackman's antics

Famed investor and billionaire Bill Ackman is somehow making time from his busy day job (posting on X) to pursue a passion project: Being a hedge fund manager.

Today, Ackman filed to take his hedge fund, Pershing Square, public on the New York Stock Exchange, along with a new closed-end investment fund called Pershing Square USA (PSUS).

If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Ackman already tried to raise $25 billion to list the closed-end fund back in 2024 and failed spectacularly.

The new IPO will utilize a dual listing structure, where Pershing Square’s shares and the closed-end fund will both trade on the NYSE. The companies will be listed together but will trade separately.

The listing gives retail investors exposure to Pershing Square’s investment portfolio, which is mainly made up of large-cap firms including Amazon, Brookfield, and Uber, according to CNBC. A closed-end fund sells only a fixed amount of shares in an IPO, and can’t create more shares like a traditional open-end mutual fund.

Ackman is pricing the closed-end fund at $50 per share, and looking to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion. The company already has $2.8 billion in gross commitments from family offices, insurance companies, and pension funds.

Ackman’s role model

Ackman, who started out as a famed activist investor making short bets against firms like Herbalife, has long voiced admiration for Warren Buffett’s empire. For years, he’s been vying to create his own magnum opus à la Berkshire Hathaway.

But unlike Buffett, Ackman has also become an opinionated presence on X, where he has about 2 million followers. He regularly offers his take on pretty much every third rail issue, and has supported Elon Musk and President Trump. His social media fame is helping to create demand for the new fund. According to the filing, PSUS will be Pershing’s first fund marketed directly to retail investors as well as institutional investors.

Still, we can’t say we’ve ever seen Buffett post a meme.—LB