William Albert Ackman is an American investor and founder of Pershing Square, known for concentrated portfolios and activist investments. He earned a BA at Harvard College in 1988 and an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1992. He co-founded Gotham Partners before establishing Pershing Square, whose official biography dates its founding to 2003; accounts of the capital-management fund’s launch often use 2004.
Ackman’s career has included public campaigns involving companies such as MBIA, Herbalife and Canadian Pacific, alongside major losses and gains in individual investments. His current corporate biography lists leadership at Pershing Square and Howard Hughes Holdings. He founded the Pershing Square Foundation in 2006. The Autopilot Ackman Tracker is a separate strategy based on public disclosures.
One octagon for each phase of the life of Bill Ackman. Each of the eight axes is scored 0 to 5 against a written rubric from documented evidence, with its source; an axis without evidence is a gap, not a zero. There is no total and no ideal shape: it is a profile, not a ranking. Appearance and personality are not axes, because they cannot be scored from evidence.
OverviewGenerated from documented data: the office held, income against IRS percentiles, the highest recorded degree and the reviewed legal record. Axes with no documented evidence are left out; researched phases are added through the wiki.Only 2 of the 8 axes have documented evidence, so no shape is drawn yet.
No total and no ideal shape: a longer spoke means more of that axis, so a long Misconduct spoke is more documented misconduct.
Scores, rubric and sources
01Education4 of 5
Medium confidenceHighest recorded degree: BA and MBA, Harvard University..[1]Highest attainment by then: 1 secondary school, 2 some college, 3 bachelor's degree, 4 master's or professional degree, 5 doctorate.
02Wealth4 of 5
Medium confidenceDocumented income of $900M in 2023 is in the top 1% of US returns by adjusted gross income (IRS, tax year 2022, as tabulated by the Tax Foundation). Income, not net worth.[2]Net worth or income against the national thresholds of the time: 1 below the median household, 3 top 5%, 5 top 0.1%.
03PositionNo evidence
Scope of the role held: 1 entry level, 3 senior manager or legislator, 5 head of state or government, or the top role of a major institution.
04Public standingNo evidence
Public approval or favourability where it was measured: 1 under 20%, 3 35 to 50%, 5 over 65%.
05HealthNo evidence
Documented health where an examination or disclosure exists: 5 no documented concern, 1 a serious documented condition.
06MisconductNo evidence
The documented legal and ethics record within the phase, as in the misconduct meter: 0 none documented, 1 only matters resolved in their favour, 2 an open matter, 3 one finding, 4 two or three, 5 four or more. More is more documented misconduct.
07Social goodNo evidence
Assessed effects of what they did in the phase on health, safety, education, rights and the environment, from official statistics or peer-reviewed evidence: 0 clearly harmful, 2.5 mixed, 5 clearly beneficial.
08Economic goodNo evidence
Assessed effects of what they did in the phase on efficiency, growth and fiscal sustainability, from CBO and peer-reviewed evidence, as in the good-for-society reading: 0 clearly harmful, 2.5 mixed, 5 clearly beneficial.
Earnings by year1
What each year added up to: salary, plus outside income, royalties, endorsements, prizes and investment income where a source reports them. A financial disclosure gives ranges, shown as such.
2023$900MTotal
Health, weight and religion appear only where the person, their physician or a reputable outlet has published them; each links to its source.
Latest published holdings, with their source dates. Positions may have changed. Transaction disclosures alone do not establish remaining shares or cost basis.
Latest eligible personal non-derivative balance found in the 12 recent Forms 4 reviewed, dated to the reported transaction. Direct ownership as reported. This is one security disclosure, not a complete current portfolio. Subsequent undisclosed changes are possible. Conditional or restricted shares may be included; see the filing footnotes. No market valuation, position cost basis or unrealized P&L is inferred.
Bill Ackman — PSUS reported personal ownership · as of Apr 30, 2026
Security
Allocation
Shares
Unrealized P&L
PSUSPershing Square USA, Ltd. — Common Shares of Beneficial Interest
Not disclosed
4,000,000
Not disclosed
Only part of the portfolio is public
Stock P&L requires a disclosed position cost basis and a dated valuation in the same currency. It is unrealized price P&L and excludes dividends and realized gains. Missing inputs stay undisclosed.
Personal trades & P&L
Publicly disclosed personal trading activity. Publication dates and trade dates are distinct; a commentary post is not a complete execution record.
Personal trading disclosures
Partial SEC Form 4 coverage: up to 12 recent filings since January 2025 reviewed, displaying up to 24 eligible non-derivative transaction rows. Individual reporting identity and ownership were checked. Fund-held, ambiguous joint-owner and derivative rows are excluded; 21 non-derivative rows were excluded by ownership. Direct and specifically verified sole-beneficial entity ownership are distinguished. Awards, gifts, conversions, exercises and withholding events are not treated as open-market investment profits. Share balances are historical and may include restrictions; this is not a complete current portfolio or tax-lot ledger.
Pershing Square USA, Ltd.: Purchase (SEC code P), 3,500,000 Common Shares of Beneficial Interest shares. Reported price: $50.0000 per share; read filing footnotes for weighted-average pricing and conditions. Direct ownership as reported. Acquisition lot costs and realized P&L are not established by this filing.
Pershing Square USA, Ltd.: Purchase (SEC code P), 500,000 Common Shares of Beneficial Interest shares. Reported price: $42.0000 per share; read filing footnotes for weighted-average pricing and conditions. Direct ownership as reported. Acquisition lot costs and realized P&L are not established by this filing.
Not disclosed
Realized P&L requires matched acquisition costs and sale proceeds for the same security and quantity. Transaction value ranges, inferred quarterly changes and commentary do not establish profit. Missing cost or execution data remains undisclosed.
Fund holdings & tracked strategies
Latest published holdings, with their source dates. Positions may have changed. Transaction disclosures alone do not establish remaining shares or cost basis.
These are the investment manager’s reported positions, not the named person’s personal brokerage holdings. Form 13F shows reportable long securities at quarter-end and omits cash, short positions and many foreign/private assets. Showing 14 of 14 reported share positions; full filings are linked. 0 option, principal-amount or warrant/debt rows are excluded. Option figures describe underlying exposure, not option premiums. Allocation is within the reported non-option share positions, not total fund assets. 13F does not disclose purchase costs or actual P&L.
Pershing Square Inc. — SEC 13F · as of Jun 30, 2026
Stock P&L requires a disclosed position cost basis and a dated valuation in the same currency. It is unrealized price P&L and excludes dividends and realized gains. Missing inputs stay undisclosed.
These are the tracked strategy’s holdings and client-strategy returns. They do not establish this person’s own positions or profit.
Ackman Tracker · as of Oct 25, 2026
Security
Allocation
Unrealized P&L
AMZNAmazon.Com Inc
12.3%
Not disclosed
BNBrookfield Corporation
12.2%
Not disclosed
MSFTMicrosoft Corp
11.9%
Not disclosed
Only part of the portfolio is public · 10 additional holdings not published (63.6%)
Stock P&L requires a disclosed position cost basis and a dated valuation in the same currency. It is unrealized price P&L and excludes dividends and realized gains. Missing inputs stay undisclosed.
Published portfolio return
Work and contributions8
Initiatives1
2006 — Pershing Square Foundation[3]profile-research-2006-pershing-square-foundationFounded the Pershing Square Foundation to support social-sector organizations and initiatives.
Work5
1988–1992 — Harvard education[1]profile-research-1988-1992-harvard-educationCompleted a Harvard College BA in 1988 and an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1992.
2024–2025 — corporate board roles[3]profile-research-2024-2025-corporate-board-rolesBecame chairman of Pershing Square’s board in June 2024 and executive chairman of Howard Hughes Holdings in May 2025, according to his corporate biography.
Ackman Tracker[4]autopilot-26963Autopilot lists this strategy as following public disclosures, public commentary or the associated investment firm. The named person does not thereby operate or endorse the tracker.
Career and background[1]autopilot-biographyInvestor and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, known for concentrated and activist investment strategies.
Professional profile and background[1]profile-research-biographyWilliam Albert Ackman is an American investor and founder of Pershing Square, known for concentrated portfolios and activist investments. He earned a BA at Harvard College in 1988 and an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1992. He co-founded Gotham Partners before establishing Pershing Square, whose official biography dates its founding to 2003; accounts of the capital-management fund’s launch often use 2004.
Ackman’s career has included public campaigns involving companies such as MBIA, Herbalife and Canadian Pacific, alongside major losses and gains in individual investments. His current corporate biography lists leadership at Pershing Square and Howard Hughes Holdings. He founded the Pershing Square Foundation in 2006. The Autopilot Ackman Tracker is a separate strategy based on public disclosures.
Companies founded2
1992–2003 — Gotham Partners[3]profile-research-1992-2003-gotham-partnersCo-founded Gotham Partners, which invested in public and private companies, before building Pershing Square.
2003–2004 — Pershing Square founding[3]profile-research-2003-2004-pershing-square-foundingPershing Square’s official biography dates its founding to 2003. The launch of Pershing Square Capital Management with outside capital is also described in accounts dated 2004; these refer to related stages rather than two separate firms.
Sources4
Biographical facts about Bill Ackman are backed by the wiki and its numbered references. Holdings and trade disclosures cite their sources within their own sections. Read the wiki
The performance data presented reflects the aggregated results of actual client portfolios managed by the Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), based on the trading activity in the securities contained in the relevant portfolio over the specified period. If fewer than 10 clients are invested in the portfolio, the data represents the aggregate performance of all clients following this strategy. Performance figures are shown net of advisory fees, calculated using the applicable subscription fee and an assumed $50,000 account size. Because subscription fees are flat rather than asset-based, accounts smaller than $50,000 would experience a higher effective fee percentage and lower net performance, while larger accounts would experience a lower effective fee percentage. Actual investor outcomes can vary due to factors like brokerage support for fractional shares, account size, trade timing, fees, and taxes, and past performance should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results or typical of all portfolios.
