Key control
- Most of Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square portfolios have only 8 to 12 basic holdings, reflecting a high conviction of investments.
- ACKMAN is known as activist investor, but now tends to focus on investments with long -term value and lasting commercial quality.
- The transparency and actions of Pershing Squares help Ackman build a public profile comparable to Buffett’s.
Warren Buffett, the 95 -year -old financial magnate and “Oracle of Omaha”, recently announced that he would resign from his role as CEO from Berkshire Hathaway in the late 2025. Now the eyes are turning to successful managers of coverage funds that share their ambition for the creation of long -term value. Among them, Bill Ackman, the 59 -year -old founder and CEO of the Investment Advisor Pershing Square Capital Management (PSCM), with $ 19,652 billion under administration in a discretionary and non -discretionary basis as of May, is increasingly seen not only as an investor, but as someone who tries to build an inherited memory of Buffett.
From his bold activist investment bets on his career to the way he is building his company today, Ackman’s strategy makes Wall Street ask: Could it be the next buffet in terms of a higher performance of sustained investment?
High condemnation wallets
Both Ackman and Buffett handle the portfolios that reflect a concentrated and high -condemnation investment approach.
ACKMAN’S PERSHING SQUARE HOLDINGS, LTD. It is a company holding company that administers Pershing Square Holdings (PSH), a closed fund that quotes on the stock market, for which Pershing Square Capital Management is the investment advisor. In general, most of the company’s portfolio is assigned to 8 to 12 central holdings, mostly of the North American companies of great capitalization.
This method reflects the buffet approach. Despite its size, Berkshire Hathaway maintains large bets in relatively few companies. For example, 21.8% of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio is composed of Apple Inc., while another 16.5% is composed of American Express Co. (Holdings as of June 30, 2025, based on the presentation of 13F SEC of the company on August 14, 2025).
The idea is that less deeply investigated positions with a strong concentration can overcome a widely diversified portfolio over time.
Long -term investment horizon
ACKMAN and Buffett favor a long time horizon in their main bets. Buffett is famous for buying with the intention of having “forever” actions, especially in companies with lasting competitive advantages and reliable management. Meanwhile, Ackman is known for being an open activist investor, generating massive investments in a particular company often becoming the company’s largest shareholder. In general, its intention is to buy a majority participation in a company with the intention of improving it.
One of Ackman’s most famous activist investments was its short position of $ 1 billion against the Herbalife Herbal Supple Company in 2012, claiming that the company was a pyramid scheme. After Ackman assumed his position, the United States Federal Commission of Commerce realized and investigated the matter even more. Herbalife settled with the government, incurring a fine and requirements of $ 200 million to reform its commercial practices. However, while Ackman brought light to this problem, in the end he lost money.
Today, Pershing Square’s interests are mainly found in companies such as Amazon, Google, Chipotle, Brookfield and Howard Hughes Holdings, indicating a change towards the sustained property of lasting companies and the least transitory positioning.
Business quality and pit centered in the pit
Both investors look for businesses with strong economic graves, competitive advantages that protect profits over time. According to Pershing Square, Ackman aims to invest in “high quality growth businesses … that generate predictable and recurrent cash flows.”
While exposure to the Ackman sector can vary, actively lean towards consumption brands, technology, restaurants and real estate, their criteria are very similar to what has historically made Successful Buffett investments: lasting brands and capital discipline.
Transparency and public influence
Buffett has long established the standard for the communication of investors through their annual shareholders’ letters of Berkshire Hathaway, which openly discuss performance, errors and their long -term perspective. These letters are generally considered an essential reading on Wall Street and have shaped the expectations of transparency of Berkshire Hathaway investors.
At the same time, Ackman has adopted a similar play book. Through consistent press releases and regular investment updates, Pershing Square communicates the strategy and justification for shareholders, including investors, annual reports and financial statements.
Structural and strategic differences
- Despite the similarities between Berkshire Hathaway and Pershing Square, the two companies differ from some important ways:
- Structure: Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company that has some complete businesses and large capital participations in others; Pershing Square manages a background that quotes in the stock market and quotes in the stock market inverted mainly in public actions.
- Activism: ACKMAN has previously taken activist positions, pressing for change in companies such as Herbalife, for example. Buffett prefers to buy businesses with a lasting competitive advantage and tends to adopt a longer term approach to investment.
- Scale and scope: Berkshire Hathaway size allows the acquisition of private companies; Pershing Square’s model works through actions that are negotiated publicly.
The final result
Bill Ackman shows many of the qualities that people admire in Warren Buffett: conviction, an approach to business quality and the will to occupy concentrated positions in companies. But although Buffett’s echoes are evident, Ackman plays in a different league in terms of activism and commercial structure. If you become the next buffet, you are not sure, but one thing is clear: it is worth seeing your movements.
