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Ackman Blames Retail Traders for 18% IPO Slide

5/1/2026

50 9 Full Breakdown

Summary

Ackman Blames Retail

Bill Ackman blamed retail investors for Pershing Square USA’s 18% post-IPO drop.
The fund opened at $50, fell to $40.90 on Wednesday, then closed Thursday at $43.54, up more than 6%.
Ackman said retail buyers over-purchased and sold, while institutions supplied over 80% of the $5 billion IPO capital that lifted his assets 25% and included $500 million from him, staff, Marc Lasry and ICONIQ Capital.

Summary

Ackman Buys Shares

Bill Ackman bought 500,000 PSUS shares and 800,000 Pershing Square Inc. shares after the NYSE debut.
The filing lists a quarterly management fee of 0.50% of net asset value (NAV) with no performance fee, giving expenses of 2.20% and warning that closed-end fund shares often trade at a discount to NAV.
Anchor investors received 1.5 Pershing Square Inc. shares per five PSUS shares, while public investors got one per five.

Summary

Ackman Raises $5B

Pershing Square raised $5 billion, far below its $25 billion target.
Institutional investors bought about 85% of the offering, implying roughly $750 million of retail demand.
The cash will be deployed within weeks into large existing holdings such as Uber Technologies and Meta Platforms.
Pershing Square Holdings trades at roughly one-third discount to net asset value, prompting questions about future secondary-market demand.

Summary

Ackman IPO Plunge

PSUS opened at $50, fell to $40.33 intraday and closed at $40.93, an 18% decline from the IPO price.
The fund lists on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under ticker PSUS and the management company under PS, reflecting a retail-access strategy.
Pershing Square’s portfolio returned 2,644% from 2004 through 2025, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 836% gain.

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Ackman Blames Retail

Bill Ackman blamed retail investors for Pershing Square USA’s 18% post-IPO drop.
The fund opened at $50, fell to $40.90 on Wednesday, then closed Thursday at $43.54, up more than 6%.
Ackman said retail buyers over-purchased and sold, while institutions supplied over 80% of the $5 billion IPO capital that lifted his assets 25% and included $500 million from him, staff, Marc Lasry and ICONIQ Capital.

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