Investor Bill Ackman is adding billions to his billions—at least on paper—as the value of his stake in hedge fund Pershing Square rises thanks to a recent valuation hike.
Pershing Square, which Ackman founded two decades ago, is raising $1.05 billion in a funding round valuing the company at about $10.5 billion. Unnamed buyers are looking to buy a 10% stake in the firm.
Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reported that Pershing, which has about $16.3 billion in assets, plans to go public as early as 2025, a person familiar with the matter confirmed. Luck. But before that happens, its CEO Ackman will see his net worth rise significantly.
Ackman is believed to own nearly half of Pershing Square and has an estimated net worth of $4.3 billion, according to Forbes. Pershing’s current funding round will increase that amount by more than $4 billion. Financial Times reported citing a person familiar with the situation. This means Ackman’s net worth could rise to at least $8.3 billion.
The elevated valuation will also make Pershing Chief Investment Officer Ryan Israel a newly minted billionaire on paper. F.T. reported.
The reported multibillion-dollar rise will catapult Ackman up the list of the world’s richest people, placing him above well-known executives such as Block’s Jack Dorsey, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Forbes estimates. At the moment Ackman is 738th richest person in the world, the publication reports.
Among hedge fund managers, Ackman is also one of the highest paid. Despite some changes to the stock portfolio Pershing manages for clients, Ackman took home $610 million last year, Bloomberg reports. reported.
After rising to prominence in the financial world as an activist investor in the early 2000s, Ackman found himself in the spotlight during an unsuccessful five-year battle with dietary supplement company Herbalife. Two years ago, Ackman encouraged Pershing to invest in larger companies such as Chipotle and Alphabet.
Ackman has also drawn attention recently for his lengthy social media posts and harsh comments about anti-Semitism on college campuses and tirades against DEI. When former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 charges Thursday, the 58-year-old hinted in a tweet that he agreed with right-wing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that the trial against Trump was politically biased. Trump was found unanimously guilty on all charges against him by 12 jurors in a New York state court.