Bill Ackman

You don't have the same issue in public company boards. Yeah.

You don't have the same issue in public company boards. Yeah.

You don't have the same issue in public company boards. Yeah.

Biggest loss of my career is a company called Valiant Pharmaceuticals. We made an investment in a business that didn't meet our core principles. The problem in the pharmaceutical industry, and there are many problems, as I've learned, is it's a very volatile business, right? It's based on drug discovery.

Biggest loss of my career is a company called Valiant Pharmaceuticals. We made an investment in a business that didn't meet our core principles. The problem in the pharmaceutical industry, and there are many problems, as I've learned, is it's a very volatile business, right? It's based on drug discovery.

Biggest loss of my career is a company called Valiant Pharmaceuticals. We made an investment in a business that didn't meet our core principles. The problem in the pharmaceutical industry, and there are many problems, as I've learned, is it's a very volatile business, right? It's based on drug discovery.

Uh, it's based on, you know, predicting, uh, kind of the future revenues of a drug before it goes off patent. Um, you know, lots, lots of complexities. And we thought we had founded a, a pharmaceutical company we could own because of a very unusual founder and the way he approached this business. Um,

Uh, it's based on, you know, predicting, uh, kind of the future revenues of a drug before it goes off patent. Um, you know, lots, lots of complexities. And we thought we had founded a, a pharmaceutical company we could own because of a very unusual founder and the way he approached this business. Um,

Uh, it's based on, you know, predicting, uh, kind of the future revenues of a drug before it goes off patent. Um, you know, lots, lots of complexities. And we thought we had founded a, a pharmaceutical company we could own because of a very unusual founder and the way he approached this business. Um,

And it was a company where another activist was on the board of directors of the company and kind of governing and overseeing the day-to-day decisions. And we ended up making a passive investment in the company. And up until this point in time, we really didn't make passive investments. And the company made a series of decisions that were disastrous.

And it was a company where another activist was on the board of directors of the company and kind of governing and overseeing the day-to-day decisions. And we ended up making a passive investment in the company. And up until this point in time, we really didn't make passive investments. And the company made a series of decisions that were disastrous.

And it was a company where another activist was on the board of directors of the company and kind of governing and overseeing the day-to-day decisions. And we ended up making a passive investment in the company. And up until this point in time, we really didn't make passive investments. And the company made a series of decisions that were disastrous.

And then we stepped in to try to solve the problem. It was the first time I ever joined a board and the mess was much larger than I realized from the outside. And then I was kind of stuck. And it was very much a confidence-sensitive strategy because they built their business by acquiring pharmaceutical assets. And they often issued stock when they acquired targets.

And then we stepped in to try to solve the problem. It was the first time I ever joined a board and the mess was much larger than I realized from the outside. And then I was kind of stuck. And it was very much a confidence-sensitive strategy because they built their business by acquiring pharmaceutical assets. And they often issued stock when they acquired targets.

And then we stepped in to try to solve the problem. It was the first time I ever joined a board and the mess was much larger than I realized from the outside. And then I was kind of stuck. And it was very much a confidence-sensitive strategy because they built their business by acquiring pharmaceutical assets. And they often issued stock when they acquired targets.

And so once the market lost confidence in management, the stock price got crushed and it impaired their ability to continue to acquire low-cost drugs. And we lost $4 billion. $4 billion. Yeah. How's that for a big loss? It's up there.

And so once the market lost confidence in management, the stock price got crushed and it impaired their ability to continue to acquire low-cost drugs. And we lost $4 billion. $4 billion. Yeah. How's that for a big loss? It's up there.

And so once the market lost confidence in management, the stock price got crushed and it impaired their ability to continue to acquire low-cost drugs. And we lost $4 billion. $4 billion. Yeah. How's that for a big loss? It's up there.

And by the way, that loss catalyzed other, what I call mark-to-market losses. So very high profile, huge number, disastrous press. Then people said, okay, Bill's going to go out of business. So we're going to bet against everything he's doing. And we know his entire portfolio because we only own 10 things. And we were short a company called Herbalife, very famously.

And by the way, that loss catalyzed other, what I call mark-to-market losses. So very high profile, huge number, disastrous press. Then people said, okay, Bill's going to go out of business. So we're going to bet against everything he's doing. And we know his entire portfolio because we only own 10 things. And we were short a company called Herbalife, very famously.