Bill Ackman - Evolving Investment Playbook, From MBIA to Moats

Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, joins hosts Michael Mauboussin and Tano Santos to trace the arc of his investing journey—from his early days in real estate finance to founding Gotham Partners and eventually building Pershing Square into a $30 billion firm. Bill discusses formative moments that shaped his thinking, including his controversial early short of MBIA, the painful lessons of the Valeant episode, and the transformation brought about by adopting a permanent capital structure. He also unpacks his investment philosophy, the importance of durability and moats, and his team's approach to risk, activism, and concentrated investing. Along the way, Bill offers thoughts on AI, higher education, and what excites—and concerns—him about the future — and much more!      Key Topics:   ● Bill's near-death experience and early independence (2:19)  ● Skills learned at Harvard and lessons from rowing and sales (3:50)  ● Real estate foundation and Gotham Partners launch (6:44)  ● Early credit derivative bet and discovery of MBIA issues (12:23)  ● Formation and lessons from Pershing Square (19:02)  ● The three eras of Pershing Square and the importance of permanent capital (21:03)  ● Bill's investment philosophy and focus on durable moats (27:31)  ● Thoughts on capital-light, network-effect businesses (33:58)  ● How Pershing Square handles portfolio concentration and risk (36:30)  ● Impact of AI and the resilience of activist investing (40:17)  ● Student pitch trends and what makes a strong investment case (43:25)  ● What Pershing looks for when hiring investment professionals (47:29)  ● What worries and excites Bill today (51:34)  ● Recommended reading and X as a research tool (54:34)  ● And much more!    Mentioned in this Episode:  ● Pershing Square Capital Management  ● Gotham Partners  ● MBIA Inc.  ● Farmer Mac  ● Herbalife  ● Valeant Pharmaceuticals  ● General Growth Properties  ● Hilton Worldwide  ● Uber Technologies  ● Universal Music Group  ● Brookfield Asset Management    ● The Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway by Adam Mead  ● The Compounders: Lessons from 50+ Stories of Business Growth by Travis Wiedower      Thanks for Listening!    Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And feel free to drop us a line at valueinvesting@gsb.columbia.edu.    Follow the Heilbrunn Center on social media on Instagram, LinkedIn, and more! 

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Value investing is more than an investment strategy — it's a fundamental way of thinking about finance. Value investing was developed in the 1920s at Columbia Business School by professors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, MS '21. The authors of the classic text, Security Analysis, Graham and Dodd were the very pioneers of their field and their security analysis principles provided the first rational basis for investment decisions. Despite the vast and volatile changes in the economy and securities markets during the last several decades, value investing has proven to be the most successful money management strategy ever developed. Value investors' success over the second half of the twentieth century proved not only the validity of the value approach, but its preeminence over even the most widely taught and practiced modern investment theory, which was developed in the 1950s and '60s and remains dominant even today. Our mission today is to promote the study and practice of Graham & Dodd's original investing principles and to improve investing with world-class education, research, and practitioner-academic dialogue. In this podcast you will hear from some of the world's greatest investors, their views on the investment management industry, how they developed their investment process and how they see the field changing over time.