Ackman Sprints Toward $10 Billion IPO! Pershing Launches Closed-End Fund to Create "The Next Berkshire"

Legendary hedge fund figure Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Inc. has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. stock market. This transaction will list the billionaire Ackman’s hedge fund company along with a new closed-end operational fund on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

According to the filing, this combined IPO includes shares of Pershing Square USA Ltd. (a closed-end fund) and a portion of Ackman’s hedge fund company, Pershing Square Capital Management. The document states that investors subscribing to the closed-end fund IPO at 100 shares will receive 20 shares of the hedge fund management company.

The filings submitted on Tuesday show that, as of the end of 2025, this Wall Street alternative asset management firm manages approximately $30.7 billion in total assets, with $20.7 billion in fee-generating assets.

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd. is the closed-end fund listed on the London Stock Exchange. As of the end of February, it managed $17.1 billion in assets. Data compiled by institutions indicates that, like many other closed-end funds, its trading price is significantly below its net asset value (NAV). The median price currently trades at a 24% discount to NAV.

Overall, Ackman’s listing target is a “combo IPO”: part of it is Ackman’s hedge fund management company, Pershing Square Capital Management / Pershing Square Inc., and part is the newly established closed-end fund, Pershing Square USA. In other words, it’s not just listing the hedge fund company alone, but rather launching both the hedge fund management firm and the new fund together into the U.S. market.

Pershing Square stated in a release that once the combined IPO is priced, the two companies will trade independently. This also means they will be listed under different ticker symbols on the NYSE, and investors purchasing shares in the closed-end fund will receive a certain proportion of management company shares. However, after listing, they will be separate securities, not merged into a single entity.

The filings show that Ackman aims to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion for Pershing Square USA through this combo deal, with investors able to buy shares at $50 each. The offering has already secured $2.8 billion in commitments from qualified investors, including family offices, pension funds, and insurance companies. The documents indicate that investors participating in the private placement will receive 30 shares of the hedge fund for every 100 shares of the closed-end fund they subscribe to.

This document marks the latest step in Ackman’s long-term strategic shift: he is attempting to move toward a long-term market investment approach inspired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which was once led by Buffett himself. The goal is to transform his investment platform into a long-term capital vehicle similar to Berkshire.

This IPO is part of Ackman’s ongoing effort to adopt a “Berkshire-like” model: moving away from the traditional hedge fund structure of “raise capital—charge fees—redeemable,” and instead aiming for a more stable, long-term capital base. The objective is to upgrade Pershing from a star hedge fund into a platform resembling a “publicly listed long-term investment empire.”

It is understood that this combined offering is led by Wall Street giants including Citigroup, UBS, Bank of America, Jefferies Financial Group, and Wells Fargo.

Recently, a plan to raise up to $25 billion in 2024 for a closed-end fund listed on the NYSE fell through. A few months later, Ackman’s Pershing Square shifted focus to increasing holdings in Howard Hughes Holdings Inc., aiming to use it as a vehicle to acquire controlling stakes in other companies.

In 2024, Ackman agreed to privately sell 10% of Pershing Square in a private transaction, with the valuation of Pershing exceeding $10 billion prior to the proposed IPO.