Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management

HE’S made billions on investments while urging Trump to keep Americans out of their jobs for 30 days. From Barron’s:

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman announced earlier this month that he had been hedging his portfolio against market volatility spurred by the coronavirus. The bet paid off handsomely.

Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund laid out $27 million to buy credit protection on global investment-grade and high-yield credit indexes. The purchases, which were made late last month when credit spreads were tighter, carried limited downside risk but the potential for significant upside. Ackman said Wednesday that he finished unwinding the hedges on Monday, reaping $2.6 billion in proceeds.

The hedge fund honcho has been making the media rounds recently, demanding that President Donald Trump institute a 30-day national shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He even warned that failing to act could take hotel stocks to zero. Nevertheless, he has been buying up stocks. [bold added]

Here’s interesting background on Ackman from Wikipedia:

At a panel meeting discussing Bernie Madoff in January 2009, Ackman defended his longtime friend Ezra Merkin, saying, “Has Ezra committed a crime? I don’t think so,” and “I think [Merkin] is an honest person, an intelligent person, an interesting person, a smart investor.”[15][16][17] In April 2009, Merkin was charged with civil fraud by the State of New York for “secretly steering $2.4 billion in client money into Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi fraud without their permission.”[18] A settlement was reached on June 2012 requiring Merkin to pay $405 million to victims including the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.[19]

Please follow and like us: