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Bill Ackman just lost 18 percentage points to the market. Over the past year, the S&P 500 has grown by 25%, while Ekman's fund has only grown by 7%. The S&P 500 is the 500 largest US companies that can be bought with one click. The smartest investor, specializing in asset concentration , got burned.
So what did he do? Did he wait, act cautiously, or hide? No. He made the boldest move in 3 years: a bet of $2 billion per share. A stock that Wall Street had already written off, and to pay for it, he did something crazy. He dumped 95% of his stake in Google. I teach investing at Rutgers Business School and at the biggest firms on Wall Street, such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock.
I watched activists like Bill Ekman while working on Wall Street at Deutsche Bank. Today we will analyze his entire portfolio, every dollar , which is 13.7 billion. 11 companies, from smallest to largest. At the end, you'll find out what he owns, what he sold, and what bet will save or ruin his fund.
First, who is Bill Ekman? He runs a hedge fund called Pershing Square. You know some of his activist battles, they became legendary on Wall Street. He played against Herbalife for years and fought them live. He exposed Valeant and fought MBIA. He turned Chipotle into a " ten-fold" company. " Tenfold" means that the value of the investment has increased 10 times.
That's what makes it special. His own fund is traded like a stock, so anyone can see his holdings. But most people misunderstand Ekman. They think he's a stock picker, but he's not. He is a concentration player and that makes a big difference. Peter Lynch was a classic stock picker. He owned 1,400 shares at one time.
Ekman works differently. Ekman has the fewest bets on Wall Street. Most funds hold 100 stocks, some hold 500. Ekman has about 11. This is the most concentrated large portfolio in the game. Every stock he owns is one of two things. Or is it a fundamental asset for accumulation that he holds for years—it just keeps growing.
Or is it a good deal that the market has currently priced incorrectly. Buy great companies when the market hates them. So, let's go through all 11 from smallest to largest and end with the one that matters the most. An important note before we begin. Last quarter, he completely sold one major asset—Hilton.
All 3 million shares are gone. So, this asset is not on the list , just know that he got rid of it. So, from smallest to largest. Number 11, its smallest share—Google. These are Class A shares. He owned 678,000 shares last quarter. Today, there are only 32,000, a 95% reduction. This is a statistical error, actually a residual.
So why did he buy them at all ? These were cheap big tech with loads of cash. And the verdict? He didn't shrink Google, he got rid of it. Remember where that money went. We will come back to this later. Number 10, the same company again, Google. These are Class C shares. Class C means that the shares have no voting rights.
Same story, but the amount is much larger. He reduced his 6.1 million shares to 312,000. Now let's add both Google shares together. Last quarter, Google accounted for 13% of his portfolio. Today, less than 1%. In one block he devastated it. So where did all that money from Google go? Number nine, Seaport Entertainment.
Most people have never heard of it. He didn't exactly buy it on purpose. He got them as a spin- off in 2024. A spin- off is when a company spins off a subsidiary and its shares go public. They emerged from his stake in Howard Hughes. So why keep them? She owns real estate and establishments in New York .
Here's a hint. He didn't take them off even after a year. This means that he considers the property to be more valuable than the price. Number eight, Hertz, the car rental company. This is the one that was simply destroyed. He bought it in 2024, and then the stock collapsed. A big drop, a painful and unfortunate asset.
So why is he still holding them? He believes there is still a chance for recovery. Recovery means that a company that was on the brink is recovering. And here is Ackman's key rule. He almost never buys more during a downturn. So, what he holds means he believes. But this is what could disgrace him. Number seven, Meta Platforms.
You know it as Facebook and Instagram. He bought them in November, this is a new position in the fund . So why did he buy Meta? Meta spends billions on AI, over 100 billion on data centers and chips. And Wall Street hates such spending. They only see money flowing out. They don't see that they will go back.
Ackman believes the market is wrong. He believes that profit is near. And when that happens, the price will go up. Quick pause. We are halfway through our list. If this helps you think like a pro, like and subscribe. It only takes a second and I appreciate it. So, let's start with the big money. Number six, Howard Hughes Holdings, a position of about $1.5 billion.
This is his oldest asset, by far. He has owned it since 2010. Over 15 years in one stock. Let this sink in. So, what is it? This is a real estate developer. He builds cities according to a master plan. Think: homes, shops, offices, entire communities. He tried twice to take the company private. Now I have to stop and explain.
Full disclosure: I own HHH myself. This is my seventh largest asset, 4.9% of my portfolio, and my average price is 68.78. And that's the only reason I own it. Ackman has said he wants to turn this company into his own Berkshire Hathaway. This is a serious statement. When one of the most prominent activist investors of our time says he's building the next Berkshire, you pay attention.
He has held it for over 15 years, and the position has probably doubled in value. While this may sound like a failure, it is not. This is discipline. Number five, Restaurant Brands International. You know her by her restaurants. Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs. All in one company.
This is 12% of his entire portfolio, about $1.67 billion . He keeps it stable, neither buying nor selling. So why own boring burgers? This is Ackman in his purest form. It 's boring, it's stable, it's easy to overlook, but it prints money every day. So why not buy more? He believes the price is fair now, so he waits and lets it rise.
Number four, Uber. This is 15.7% of the portfolio, about $2.15 billion. He started buying it in early 2025. It entered at a price of about $70 per share. But look here. He reduced the position by 3%. Reduced means he sold a small stake. Is he losing faith? No. The position became so large that it had to be adjusted.
This is portfolio management in action. Number three, Amazon. This is 17.4% of the portfolio, about $2.39 billion . A huge asset. And here is the main news. It added 19% this quarter, about 1.84 million new shares. So what does this tell you? This is not a reduction, not a retention. It's a confidence that grows.
Full disclosure: I also own Amazon. This is my sixth largest asset, 5.5% of my portfolio. I recently did an Amazon review on the channel, so check out the video if you want to go deeper. In a portfolio of 11 stocks, increasing the share of the second-largest asset is a big statement. Some of you might think: if Amazon is his biggest bet, why is n't that the benefit?
Because Amazon is not the main story. The main thing is what he did with the money from Google. Second place— Brookfield Corporation. In dollar terms, this is his largest position: $2.42 billion, 17.6% of the portfolio. But look more closely. He reduced it by 3%. He sold about 1.7 million shares. Here we see two things at once.
First: he still believes in Brookfield. Second: he needed cash. He didn't have any extra money, so to buy something new, he had to sell something else. So, where did all this money go? That's where Google's money goes, which brings us to the first place—a stock that it didn't have a year ago. His first brand new bet in three years.
So what is this? This is Microsoft. Yes, that's Microsoft. 5.65 million shares from scratch, $2.09 billion, 15.3% of his entire fund. This is his third largest position since day one. No one is increasing their share so much and so quickly. So why now? Why here? He started buying it in February 2026, right after the stock fell about 10%.
This happened after the earnings report. The growth of cloud technologies fell short by only 1%. Cloud is the rental fee that Microsoft charges for the use of its servers. Then he did something unusual. He gave three reasons in his own words. This is hard to ignore amid skepticism about AI, which means stocks have fallen while people doubt the story of artificial intelligence.
Second, and I quote: $190 billion spent in 2026 is J- curve growth, not a threat. The J- curve is a common concept in the field of private equity. This means that the performance initially falls before yielding a profit in the long term. Third, and this is the most important. Microsoft owns 27% of OpenAI.
OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT. That stake alone could be worth $200 billion, and Ackman says the market is completely ignoring it . And now the main step that brings everything together. He didn't just buy stocks, he replaced Google with Microsoft. Money from Google, money from Brookfield—it all funded one bet.
Here is my conclusion after years of practice in this matter . This is true conviction, not just an attempt to test the waters. He immediately went full volume. Ackman doesn't usually start like this. He tells the world that he has already opened a short position. So the main question is: is he right?
I will tell you directly. Its entry price is about $370 per share. And you see the current price on the screen. In the short term, Google's sale looks bad. Google shares have risen about 25% since the beginning of the year. So far, the stocks he sold are winning. But Ackman isn't just playing for this year.
His entire thesis is based on one idea: the stake in OpenAI is not yet included in the price. If he's right, it's brilliant. If it is wrong, it is a " price trap", that is, the shares look cheap, but they remain so. I also own Microsoft stock. This is my third largest position with a 9% share. So what do you do next?
Last Friday, I built a complete financial model for Microsoft—just like we do on Wall Street. I'll show you the true value of Microsoft, what Ackman is really betting on, and whether he was too hasty, too late, or completely wrong. If you want to know whether you should follow him, this video is worth watching next .
One question for comments. Sign out of Google, sign in to Microsoft. Genius or mistake? Let us know in the comments below. As always, be tireless.
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