korrents

What Bill Ackman thinks about investing

@bill-ackman · 22 positions · 0 changes of mind

Founder and chief executive of Pershing Square Capital Management, the activist investment firm he started in 2004.

Bill Ackman did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

8 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Bill Ackman has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingA margin of safety means paying a discount deep enough that being wrong about what a company is worth still leaves you whole.

    Their wordsYou want to buy a company at a price that if you're wrong about what you think it's worth and it turns out to be worth 30% less, you paid a deep enough discount to your estimate that you're still okay. A big part of investing is not losing money.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 3rd of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingJudging how wide a company's moat is is the hardest thing an investor does, and this is the most disruptable period in history.

    Their wordsThe most difficult analysis to do as an investor is that, is kind of figuring out how wide is the moat, how much at risk is the business to disruption? And we're in, I would say, the greatest period of disruptability in history.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 5th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our readingIncentives drive all human behaviour, which makes a management team's incentives central to valuing a company.

    Their wordsSo as I like to say, incentives drive all human behavior and that certainly applies in the business world. So understanding the people and what drives them, and what the actual financial and other incentives of a business, are very important part of the analysis for investing in a company.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 7th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  7. Our readingInvesting well requires reversing the human instinct to grow excited as prices rise and fearful as they fall.

    Their wordsPeople tend to get excited about investments when stocks are going up and they get depressed when they're going down. And I think that's just inherently human. You have to reverse that. You have to get excited when things get cheaper and you got to get concerned when things get more expensive.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 8th of 22 in this recording

    stock market

    Interesting

  9. Our readingAn investor who never borrows against their securities can afford to think, because no fall in price can force them to sell.

    Their wordsSo as long as you don't borrow against securities, you own really high quality businesses and it's not money that you need in the short term, then you can actually be thoughtful about it.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 9th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  11. Our readingAlmost no mutual fund earns the fees it charges, so most investors are better off buying an index fund.

    Their wordsThere are very few that earn their keep in terms of the fees they charge. They tend to be too diversified and too short-term. And you're often much better off just buying an index fund.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 10th of 22 in this recording

    stock market

    Interesting

  13. Our readingAbout a dozen holdings captures nearly all the benefit of diversification; going to fifty adds almost nothing.

    Their wordsI even recommend for individual investors to invest in a dozen companies, you don't get that much more benefit of diversification going from a dozen to 25 or even 50.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 11th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  15. Our readingIndividual investors analysed Tesla better than the professional investors and analysts did.

    Their wordsActually individual investors did a much better job analyzing Tesla than the so-called professional investors or analysts, the vast majority of them.

    ↗Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast #413youtube.com 12th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting