Bill Ackman

I said, where was the stock at the time? He said, it's 60 cents or something like this. And I bought a lot of stock. And I'm like, well, how much did you invest? Oh, I invest all of my money. And he was a New York city taxi driver and he invested like $50,000 or something like this at 60 cents a share.

And he was still holding it and he went into retirement and he made, you know, 50 times his money. And, uh, you know, those are the moments that you feel pretty good about investing.

And he was still holding it and he went into retirement and he made, you know, 50 times his money. And, uh, you know, those are the moments that you feel pretty good about investing.

And he was still holding it and he went into retirement and he made, you know, 50 times his money. And, uh, you know, those are the moments that you feel pretty good about investing.

Like we got a lot of pushback from our investors actually, because we had never invested in a bankrupt company before. It's a field called distressed investing and they're dedicated, uh, distressed investors, and we weren't considered one of them. So Bill, what are you doing? You don't know anything about distressed investing. You don't know anything about bankruptcy investing, but I can read.

Like we got a lot of pushback from our investors actually, because we had never invested in a bankrupt company before. It's a field called distressed investing and they're dedicated, uh, distressed investors, and we weren't considered one of them. So Bill, what are you doing? You don't know anything about distressed investing. You don't know anything about bankruptcy investing, but I can read.

Like we got a lot of pushback from our investors actually, because we had never invested in a bankrupt company before. It's a field called distressed investing and they're dedicated, uh, distressed investors, and we weren't considered one of them. So Bill, what are you doing? You don't know anything about distressed investing. You don't know anything about bankruptcy investing, but I can read.

And you learned. And I learned. And sometimes it's very helpful not to be a practitioner, an expert in something, because you get used to the conventional wisdom. And so we just abstractly read the step back and look at the facts. And it was just a really interesting setup for... One of the best investments we ever made.

And you learned. And I learned. And sometimes it's very helpful not to be a practitioner, an expert in something, because you get used to the conventional wisdom. And so we just abstractly read the step back and look at the facts. And it was just a really interesting setup for... One of the best investments we ever made.

And you learned. And I learned. And sometimes it's very helpful not to be a practitioner, an expert in something, because you get used to the conventional wisdom. And so we just abstractly read the step back and look at the facts. And it was just a really interesting setup for... One of the best investments we ever made.

No, it's not that hard. I mean, I literally read a book on distressed investing. Ben Branch or something, something on distressed investing.

No, it's not that hard. I mean, I literally read a book on distressed investing. Ben Branch or something, something on distressed investing.

No, it's not that hard. I mean, I literally read a book on distressed investing. Ben Branch or something, something on distressed investing.

Most of the world's knowledge has already been written somewhere. You just got to read the right books. And also had great lawyers, built up some great relationships. We work with Sullivan and Cromwell. And the lawyer there named Joe Shanker, who I met earlier in my career. Pershing Square is actually my second act in the hedge fund business. I started a fund called Gotham Partners when I was 26.

Most of the world's knowledge has already been written somewhere. You just got to read the right books. And also had great lawyers, built up some great relationships. We work with Sullivan and Cromwell. And the lawyer there named Joe Shanker, who I met earlier in my career. Pershing Square is actually my second act in the hedge fund business. I started a fund called Gotham Partners when I was 26.

Most of the world's knowledge has already been written somewhere. You just got to read the right books. And also had great lawyers, built up some great relationships. We work with Sullivan and Cromwell. And the lawyer there named Joe Shanker, who I met earlier in my career. Pershing Square is actually my second act in the hedge fund business. I started a fund called Gotham Partners when I was 26.

One of my early investments was a company called Rockefeller Center Properties that was heading for bankruptcy. And the lawyer on the other side representing Goldman Sachs was a guy named Joe Shanker. So he was like an obvious phone call because we had yet another real estate bankruptcy. And that one we did very well, but I missed the big opportunity.

One of my early investments was a company called Rockefeller Center Properties that was heading for bankruptcy. And the lawyer on the other side representing Goldman Sachs was a guy named Joe Shanker. So he was like an obvious phone call because we had yet another real estate bankruptcy. And that one we did very well, but I missed the big opportunity.

One of my early investments was a company called Rockefeller Center Properties that was heading for bankruptcy. And the lawyer on the other side representing Goldman Sachs was a guy named Joe Shanker. So he was like an obvious phone call because we had yet another real estate bankruptcy. And that one we did very well, but I missed the big opportunity.

And I suffered severe psychological torture every time I walked by Rockefeller Center because we could have made, we knew more about that property than anyone else, but I knew less about deal-making and didn't have the resources. And I was 28 years old or 27. And they hired a better lawyer than we did. And they outsmarted us on that one in a way.