Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech | Lex Fridman Podcast
Bill Ackman is an investor who has led some of the biggest and controversial financial trades in history. He is founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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TRANSCRIPT:
lexfridman.com/bill-ackman-tr...
EPISODE LINKS:
Bill's X: / billackman
Pershing Square Holdings: pershingsquareholdings.com/
Pershing Square Foundation: pershingsquarefoundation.org
Neri Oxman conversation: • Neri Oxman: Biology, A...
Books mentioned:
The Intelligent Investor: amzn.to/3ONnaZy
America's Cultural Revolution: amzn.to/3SDz1dY
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
Full episodes playlist: • Lex Fridman Podcast
Clips playlist: • Lex Fridman Podcast Clips
OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
0:47 - Investing basics
5:39 - Investing in music
14:00 - Process of researching companies
18:39 - Investing in restaurants
24:08 - Investing in Google
29:50 - AI
35:05 - Warren Buffet
37:14 - Psychology of investing
46:45 - Activist investing
56:33 - General Growth Properties
1:12:49 - Canadian Pacific Railway
1:20:13 - OpenAI
1:24:24 - Biggest loss and lowest point
1:39:13 - Herbalife and Carl Icahn
1:56:03 - Oct 7
2:02:34 - College campus protests
2:21:01 - DEI in universities
2:41:52 - Neri Oxman
3:07:22 - X and free speech
3:11:46 - Trump
3:19:22 - Dean Phillips
3:26:28 - Future
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Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack - Policygenius: policygenius.com/lex - AG1: drinkag1.com/lex to get 1 month supply of fish oil - Eight Sleep: eightsleep.com/lex to get special savings - BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off 0:47 - Investing basics 5:39 - Investing in music 14:00 - Process of researching companies 18:39 - Investing in restaurants 24:08 - Investing in Google 29:50 - AI 35:05 - Warren Buffet 37:14 - Psychology of investing 46:45 - Activist investing 56:33 - General Growth Properties 1:12:49 - Canadian Pacific Railway 1:20:13 - OpenAI 1:24:24 - Biggest loss and lowest point 1:39:13 - Herbalife and Carl Icahn 1:56:03 - Oct 7 2:02:34 - College campus protests 2:21:01 - DEI in universities 2:41:52 - Neri Oxman 3:07:22 - X and free speech 3:11:46 - Trump 3:19:22 - Dean Phillips 3:26:28 - Future
baby dont shave your beard please
Hey Lex can you invite Swami Sarvapriyananda to discuss Hinduism since you have already invited priest etc from other religions. Many indic religions remain.
Where is PUTIN?!
@lexfridman - Thank you for your podcast. I didn’t even need to watch this one because I know the story and don’t need to hear Ackman lie. I think that Bill Ackman is a complete dirtbag and con artist. I despise people like him. All he did was sell short on Herbalife, then artificially influenced the market to get the stock price to drop. Thank God Carl Icahn was there to take the opposite position and scalp Ackman for $1B. Ackman’s claims against Herbalife were all investigated by the FTC and SEC, but no wrongdoing by the Herbalife business was found and there’s no enforcement actions taken against Herbalife. I don’t believe Ackman is a true billionaire through honest hard work. From all appearances, Ackman tried to disparage this company so he could gain a massive profit. What is so dirty about Ackman is that he has made his money off the backs of retail investors who do not have access to manage a hedge fund and influence the market. Ackman can direct those managers to do his bidding and bilk the retail investors out of their hard-earned money, which destroys their American dream. Carl Icahn’s investment in Herbalife drew the line in the sand against Ackman, who doesn’t appear to have any morals or integrity. Ackman looked to destroy the lives of the Herbalife employees and customers for his own greed.
😮😮
Lex, can you invite Mr Buffet to your podcast? I think a lot of people will appreciate it
Hahahhahaahah
He would probably describe the same concepts as Bill, but we would have to listen to his grainy old voice for 2-3 hours
@@FireSideChitChatany disrespect for the GOAT of investing is shameful
I would love that
@@Austin6403very shameful
This was a great interview. I never knew this side of Bill. Lex, interviewing more juggernauts in the financial world would be awesome!
Can you be specific. I didn't know he revealed anything that he didn't want revealed. This was a 3.5 hours public relations event.
@@ezeqrulsThe first hour was just him being a hype man for his portfolio. I guess that’s his job though.
Facts.@@ezeqruls
Agreed, finance is often overlooked.
@@CubeParrot1why
Out of all the pearls of wisdom in this chat, "nutrition, sleep, exercise, a little progress every day, and a walk with a friend every night" might be the best of them. A good recipe for happiness. 1:38:04
And a small loan of $300 million from JP Morgan.
@@alanwilliams9363he literally needed it in a moment of despair to save his company from going bankrupt, you really think he enjoyed doing that?
@@alanwilliams9363 Exactly! Work hard, play by the rules, say your prayers at at night and oh yeah, have wealthy friends!
I don't believe in seeing friends daily. The other stuff is obvious however "little progress" doesn't make much sense either, either do a lot or a little. This is like some "live laugh love" stuff. The other stuff is obvious and some isn't in your control to the extent it's suggested.
defeatist attitude will never get you success @@goodfty
Another among many examples of how platforms like this add extreme value to our lives. Unimaginable a few decades ago.
we need Ilya Sutskever , Andrej Karpathy and Andrew NG back with latest developments!!
Thats it!
@@seeknndestroy420 Ya , let's get all of them from open ai and Google deep mind once again! That's the difference between lex and Joe Rogan!!!
they are probably not allowed to give interview
this isnt an AI podcast anymore. I still remember the good ole days!
Yes
Lex has the most interesting podcast on KZhead hands down
How on earth you got 6m subscribers and only posted 3 videos?
Is hate speech a subset of free speech? If you can't support the ability to say, write, think, the most horrible of topics... you aren't for free speech at all. IMHO 🎉
Lex is an insult to Russians. Oh look another jew billionaire. Maybe ask him how many boys he's diddled.
This boy is a clown
Another jewish billionaire.
I actually went to the Dartmouth discussion after the attack on October 7th. I was extremely impressed by the panel. Given the circumstances, the room was full of tension, mixed emotions and rage. The room was extremely diverse. Many Israelis, Muslims and curious students. Overall, the professors on the panel did an incredible job and was happy to be a Dartmouth student that day. Looking back I am surprised to see how few institutions actually had an open discussion about the situation in Gaza/Isreal.
The "Active Investing" section of this interview is absolute gold. Thank you Lex and Bill!
Please interview more financial figures! Loved this, and have been following Ackman for a long time
Please don't; Lex didn't push back against Ackman's narrative once... it was 3.5 hours of PR (he becomes vague other than insisting he personally didn't make the plagiarism allegations against Gay: Christopher Rufo did. Does Ackman fund Rufo's foundation?). I totally believe the anonymous Jamaican cab driver story is representative; how about talking to pharmaceutical patients who were price-gouged by Valeant during the Ackman time? Only interview financial figures who can be objective: Buffett, Philip Pilkington. Although, I'd love to see Yanis Varoufakis go 15 rounds with Ackman.
Jim Simons would be gold
@@stephenmcinerney9457 are u communist?
@@stephenmcinerney9457what a brilliant man. Great interview.
Bill Ackman is 1 of 1. No Billionaire kicks it how he kicks it with sharing valuable information, and giving insight to private investing/equity.
I just want to comment, the interview was fantastic, but I also want to credit Lex and his team for the quality of sound. I have had hearing issues over the past 4 years, hyper sensitive to the poor sound, that is all over this new internet form of media and information, a lot of times the sound is overlooked, you just accept it. But when it's dialed in, it is such a treat. And every time I listen I am so pleased in the interviews but also the great Sound!
What I like about Lex is he is a good listener. He is a simple man and a good listener.
He's also a smart person. It's all well to listen but you also need to ask the right questions and/or know how to respond or be the type of person with the type of perspective that responds in a way that furthers the conversation
Carl Icahn next?
lol he’d never do it but Carl would be epic.
Carl Icahn with Bill Ackaman wouldve been the best thing ever
Debate between carl ichan and bill ackman and lex as a moderator is what we need next
David Kirtley from Helion!!
I'd prefer Buffet. He's already on borrowed time.
Lex would love to see more finance guys like Bill Ackman
this interview is a goldmine of knowledge in the first hour at least. Very impressed with Bill Ackman
He was flawless. I’ve studied this a long time. Keeps it simple for the interviewer. And, Lex is brilliant of course!
Been lucky to come across Bill in person, solid guy just like on the podcast.
Home run Lex! As a longtime subscriber it’s been an absolute pleasure watching the platform growth. And a big thank you to Mr. Ackman. Incredible episode.
The Jamaican cab driver was a nice story.
Yes indeed he made50X, but I don't know to put all your eggs in one basket :(
Timestamp please?
I'm happy for that guy : )
It seems near impossible, but interviewing Grigori Perelman would be impeccable.
This is probably impossible as he is a complete recluse and I am not sure Lex's Russian is good enough to have complex conversations about math. But yes this would epic.
This would be amazing. Easily one the most important mathematicians of our time.
Gregory Perelman, is Mathematician, who lives reclusive life style., in his one bedroom apparent. In St Petersburg , Russia. I doubt he would agree to an interview. He refused $1,000,000 prize. However, it would be a great interview.
He's too busy picking mushrooms
He doesn't like interviews, he doesn't want to be famous.
Always liked, Bill. He has some great interviews with so many useful nuggets.
He uses media to his advantage
Nah, he tries to sell himself as a next Warren Buffet, but he isn't.
I like the way Mr Ackman thinks. I really hope our financial system has more men like him in charge.
I'm wondering if he invests for good change and money is the byproduct....or invests for money and good change is the byproduct.
I think this is hands down one of the best talks with a finance professional out there - and I watch a lot of those. Mr. Ackman shared so much with the world to the point that can really help a lot of people to get there heads around the investing world and some of the intricacies involved in the business. So much value for free :) Thanks to Lex for making people like Mr. Ackman share their priceless experience with us! I can't express enough my utmost respect and highest appreciation for both gentlmen!
Listened through Spotify, came here just to like again. Amazing interview, it's heartening to see more leaders awakening and standing up against what's wrong.
I think it is intresting how he says activist investors are almost always good and have the best interest of the company but then he says his own company had an activist investor which pushed him towards his lowest point and resulted in him closing his original fund
Fantastic interview. Bill has so much knowledge and experience. Great to hear from him in depth
The quality of content you produce continuously over the years is absolut outstanding.
This was absolutely EXCELLENT! To see Bill talk in person like this after his tremendous fight against Wokeism and DEI was amazing. For some reason I thought he would in general carry himself more aggressively but instead he seems the most calm, clear minded guy around. Watched this over the weekend while training in Zwift - great combo!
Halfway through and I want to rewatch this. This is gold!
Really enjoyed this conversation with Bill. We need more long-form interviews with such great investors !!
Free knowledge take what you can
Why
If Jeff Bezos had hair
You made my sunday, thank you! What incredible life lessons told in a very easy to understand and applicable way 🙏🏻 greetings from Germany
Excellent interview Lex! Great questions and follow-up....This postcast should be viewed by every new investor, specially for the first 2 hours.
This episode is worthy of a documentary or a book.
I’ve become wiser from this conversation. Thank you both.
Lex asks the best questions of any podcaster I have ever listened to. I think it’s because they are both so genuinely driven by curiosity and informed by lots of research beforehand. Keep up the great work Lex!
Brilliant guest- lived the Harvard analysis.
When u bring Grigori Perelman?
wow, if that's an option i will host a party to watch it
Wowwww
First, he needs to return to our dimensions.
Not happening, unfortunately. Would love to listen to him though.
This might be my favorite interview this year, very insightful both personally and professionally.
Fascinating, both of you together.... Thank you
Bill is awesome. Thanks, Lex for your great podcasts. Keep them coming! We need more folks like Bill out there.
We appreciate you Lex. :) Thanks for all you do to be a man of reason, respect, and responsibility. Your efforts help to inform us all with the greatest minds of today. We love you for it. Take care my friend, Jeremy
Lex you should consider bringing Brian Johnson. He's made many achievements since you guys last talked. The OpenAI team would also be great so: Ilya Suktskever, Sam altman, Greg Brockman, and Andrej Karpathy :)
No
No
Not sure why you want Lex to interview the singer of AC/DC
@@weirdshibainu You shook me all night long!
Thank you both for this very interesting and informative discussion. I will re-watch it many times in the future.
Been listening for years, this was a phenomenal interview and one of my favorites. Well executed by Lex and truly insightful listening to Bill.
He forgot about the part when he does the pump and dump
Oops
Exactly!! Remember when Bill Ackman went on CNBC and screamed at the financial world for 23 minutes talking about the collapse of the world due to COVID??? AT THE SAME TIME he was shorting stocks and the market, MAKING BILLIONS!! Then when he knew the market was bottoming, he flipped his trading position and went long on the market when he knew the fed was going to inject massive stimulus. But needless to say, our memories are too too short. But let’s dig further on Bill Ackman! He’s the same douche bag who had to go after the Harvard President for plagiarizing her dissertation (I get and agree on the consequences for her). But when Bill Ackman’s wife admits to her own plagiarizing of her dissertation, he like any good scumbag, justifies it away and goes after Business Insider for horrible reporting, and then like the world class scumbag that he is, he cheers on people losing their job. I get the news industry isn’t trustworthy or even really valuable like they once were, but to cheer people losing their jobs is the depths humanity.
Asking the real questions with respect and tact. Love you lex!
I started listening to your podcast back in 2018, its so cool to see how far you've gone with it. You get awesome guests and the style and flow of the podcast is always interesting. Its one of my go to listens. cheers
This might be the best podcast I’ve seen. Bill is amazing and Lex did a fantastic job interviewing.
Awesome! Great guest. Can’t wait to listen to this. :)
If you are a white supremacist 🤦🏻♂️
@@Asdfgfdmn I’m pretty sure your mother said it.
Fascinating interview. Such high respect for Ackman.
Dudes a simp
@@slickjohnson7976 you should- his wife supported him and he supports her. ackman is a great husband actually and a total chad
Lots of very valuable information in this. This is why I love Pods. Thanks Bill and Lex!!
Remarkable how Bill 'lights' up when talking about Neri: 1:34:04 to 1:35:21. 😂😂😂
When can we expect a Claudine Gay episode?
😂
This is the kind of conversations need for any who wants to build their business to gain perspective and see what you can apply. Shout out to Lex and Bill. Thank you.
Ask him about valeant and how it nearly bankrupted hospitals
Did you ask him about tanking the market early 2020 with his ‘emotional’ fear mongering CNBC phone call, cashing out billions in his short position?
Bill Ackman didn't tank the market. Everyone sold on the lockdown plans.
why are you exposing his only strategy ?for all situations ?
Sounds like you were dumb enough to listen instead of making your own decision. I guess all those people that read research reports (buy and sell) are all idiots for following the advice. Bottom line… like everyone else he gave his view… you just blame him for what followed.
LOL it was Covid that tanked the market. He is not that influential he can wreck the entire global market. Then FED stepped in ALL IN and that was always what needed to happen to save market.
Thank you Bill Ackman for giving knowledgeable lessons. Also really appreciate Lex for what he contributing
People have had worse crisis than I ever have had, so well handled, such inspiration!
Amazing interview. Thank you.
Znst alert
Thank you Mr Ackman for being brave and taking on the biggest problem and the biggest threat to our country - the DEI. We are counting on you to keep up on it. There is very little hope left with it. The problem is much more widespread than anybody realizes. Really hope it’s not too late.
What is DEI
@The_business_Podcast it stands for "diversity, equity, and inclusion." In reality, it is race Marxism, essentially a fusion of all of the worst ideologies of the 20th century (nazism/Stalinism). It has been embraced and propagated by academia, and now most large corporations are pushing this poison.
I could’ve listened to three more hours. Thank you for sharing this.
great episode, thank you @lexfridman for having Bill on the show!
Longest chipotle ad I’ve ever seen…
If Bill shaved his head, wouldn't he look a lot like Jeff Bezos?
Prescient call by Harvey Silvergate on Claudine Gay! Thanks for referencing previous pods!!
Bill Ackman's life is like the sequel to "Atlas Shrugged" I say this as a big compliment..
Fridman? Fridman... like Free Man. Lex, youre a free man My name is Bill Ackman, like Activist Man
2:02:00 "Gaza could have been a tourist destination" Gaza is functionally a concentration camp populated by minors and descendants of refugees forcefully displaced by Israeli militias. These people live in an incredibly densely populated arid territory and are constantly bombed, spied on, isolated from trade, blockaded from basic neccesities etc. Yea, a recipe for a tourist destination tion indeed. More ignorant words have rarely been spoken. This guy is indoctrinated by Israeli propaganda and ignores the last 120 years of incredibly well documented history
Fascinating interview--a total example of an individual who believed he was about personal gain and was truly asleep to all that has been going on for decades without taking the time to question huge subjects. To say he is late to the party is obvious. He still has a great deal of introspection to achieve. I am glad for him that his journey is finally moving to a real human direction.
Great job Bill. Class act. Thank you again Lex, for your tremendous skill in developing an interesting conversation.
The opening is just a literal copy of a Warren Buffet talk on investing.
He's a plagiarist like his wife Neri Oxman.
And Warren brags about paying 0.1% of his wealth in taxes, real stand up guy for our society. Socialism is democracy in OUR economy. We decide together ❤️
@@joshuagharis9017 Socialism is a guise of a democratic economy which keeps the people equally poor and controlled as pawns by the political elite, but nice try
@@joshuagharis9017buffet complains about paying less tax than his secretary and has publically stated he thinks he should pay more.. lol however what he is trying to say is much different than you are. The "Socialism" you desire is the END of our economy..
@@joshuagharis9017Less of a brag and more of a sarcastic humor but okay. It is funny, our tax code is a joke.
I cannot thank Bill enough for spotting the light on the Herbalife scam, and all the MLM scams for that matter.
How about that pandemic market scare?! Bill is my hero too 🤮
Didn’t know much about him prior to this interview, but after watching this he seems like a really down to earth guy. Another great interview Lex!
35 minutes in and Akerman is a badass. He has summarized Buffett very well and of course Graham to a degree. Most folks will not read The Intelligent Investor.
Soon as lex uploads I’m here within 2 seconds
U2 is not in same league as The Beatles or the Rolling Stones
So true! Ditto Elvis...
One notch below
The way he spoke about owning music made me feel sick.
You're right. The Beatles and the Stones wish they had the talent to have written a masterpiece like "Where The Streets Have No Name" or "With or Without You" instead of singing nursery rhymes about yellow submarines.
Yes of course we all can agree that yellow submarine was the best thing Beatles ever did.
Incredible, took me two days to watch this, but i really enjoyed this. Bill Ackman is a great inspiration for me as an investor, and it’s always a treat to hear his views and experiences. Thank you Lex, this was a great interview, very engaging and informative, especially on account of discussing incentives and governance.
Bill just inspired me to read three books. His dedication to his craft is inspirational. Thank you for sharing.
Great discussion, especially the segment about DEI, which I skipped to first.
Ackman is a hero for calling attention to the lunacy of University Presidents. We need more billionaires like him
Bro, he got Claudine pushed out for the same thing his wife did
like his wife? what lunacy you mean? Zionist jews not only faked but also harassed arabs and pro Palestinians on campus no action against them. It’s nothing but suppression
How much were you paid by him for this Comment ? $5 ??
LOOOOL WE NEED BILLIONAIRES LIKE HIM HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH we dont need more honest men , we dont need more respectable people , we need more crying babies and more crooks. your logic is fkd man.
@@WanderingExistence I'm pretty sure his wife didn't say "it depends on the context" when asked whether it was against policy to call for the genocide of jews.
good episode! thanks for having Bill here
Great interview. Thanks for sharing
Bill is a great man. Very much enjoy listening to his perspectives
Was and am a fisher over a graham fan. The best investors america has ever had in my opinion would be bogle and munger.
I always wonder how much of Buffett was actually Munger. Munger always seemed to say the smarter things, Buffett is way more likeable though.
@@daarom3472 buffet is a punk. I believe with every fiber of my being that munger is why Buffett is around today.
@@jeff-hh9mc Buffet is by no means a "punk" in the field of finance, but he has openly admitted that he adopted the idea of picking up "cigar butt" stocks, which Munger helped steer him away from, thus making Berkshire what it is today
@@hakaishinkage9899 any coward that owns 19% of both Coca Cola and American Express and stands by idly as both companies preach anti white racism. Is a punk. Same with a man that steps out on his wife for 40 years.
@@hakaishinkage9899 if you support black supremacy you are a punk.
Thank you for doing what you do. Its amazing to have access to such great minds through these podcasts.
Thanks for the podcast, I'm enjoying the conversation and learned a lot from it so far. I'll always support you my friend.
The dude with freedom of speech for me but not for thee.
Thanks for interviewing a billionaire who is also a silver fox. Neri Oxman is a blessed lady!
Amazing how far confidence will get you
Market related question for you good sir... What would be the result for retail investors if "bona fide market making naked short selling" exemptions from reg sho are overturned?
This is epic. 3 1/2 hours with Bill Ackman. Thank you Bill, for taking the time. ❤
You blocked me on Twitter but apparently KZhead forces you down my throat anyway. Welcome to the most algorithmically driven content creator of all time.
Brilliant interview & exceptionally interesting - thank you both. 👍
Great conversation! I wish you talked about RFK Jr. in the politics section at the end and his run in the presidential election 👍
“The world is not going to ask your permission to become what it is becoming.” - LEX 🔥
*Why are you Deleting Comments* ?? *Where is Freedom of Speech* ??
This is the world we live in now. Straight fascist
That's not what freedom of speech means, or has anything to do with. Freedom of speech allows you to speak in various methods without being prosecuted by the government, provided the words you speak do not break any laws. Grow up.
@@fsp-Again you people don’t know what freedom of speech means
@@fsp- One expects that posting messages on a company not owned by the government, abides by their TOS. For the Nth time, freedom of speech does *not* apply.
@@fsp- no, I don't think it is at all. You don't know what freedom of speech means.
This is a great podcast! Enjoy every minute of the conversation! Thank you Lex and Bill for doing this!
Thank you Lex for the great, well-prepared questions. Really fluid, and insightful interview! Thank you Bill for the honesty and for sharing your personal struggles. It's hard to come across giants like yourself sharing such a perspective and talking openly about losses as much as wins.
Our favourite jewish podcast!
CRINGE