"Wall Street Big Player Ackman’s Humiliation, Cancels Own IPO 'Market Reaction Cold'"

Initial $25 Billion Funding Goal
Lowered to $2 Billion, One-Tenth Level

Wall Street activist investor Bill Ackman abruptly withdrew the initial public offering (IPO) of his company Pershing Square USA, which was set to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In a press release on the 31st of last month (local time), Ackman stated, “We are reconsidering the structure of Pershing Square USA, a closed-end fund, to address concerns from potential investors,” announcing the withdrawal of the IPO listing plan. Pershing Square USA was originally scheduled to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange around the end of July, but after being postponed once, the plan was ultimately scrapped. The New York Times (NYT) reported, “Ackman suddenly withdrew after promoting the deal to potential investors in over 150 meetings during the past seven weeks.”

Market analysts suggest that Ackman’s decision was a reluctant choice due to Pershing Square USA falling significantly short of its initial fundraising target of $25 billion. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Ackman initially aimed to raise $25 billion in early last month but drastically lowered the target to $2 billion, about one-tenth of the original amount, by the 31st of the same month.

Major foreign media described this as “the humiliation of Ackman, who was confident just months ago that it would be the largest new stock offering ever.” Ackman had plans to create a company like Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett. Through the listing of Pershing Square USA, the goal was to generate profitability using only the capital of a closed-end fund. Although Ackman said, “Pershing Square USA received tremendous interest,” the market response was cold.

The NYT pointed out that Ackman’s public declarations on potentially sensitive social and political issues contributed to the market’s disregard. The most recent example cited by the NYT was his declaration of support for former President Donald Trump on X (formerly Twitter) immediately after the ‘Trump assassination attempt’ incident.

Nicknamed the ‘Baby Buffett’ on Wall Street, Ackman is known as a major player managing about $18.3 billion. The recent five-year return of Pershing Square Capital Management, which he leads, was reported to be 183.8% as of June 30.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.