Bill Ackman

And then they, you know, came to see us and to try to, you know, be activists and force us to liquidate. And that sort of. Wow. So I thought this was going to be. Wow. I envisioned an end where the divorce takes all of my resources. The permanent capital vehicle ends up getting liquidated. And another activist in my industry puts me out of business. And I had met Neri Oxman right around this time.

And then they, you know, came to see us and to try to, you know, be activists and force us to liquidate. And that sort of. Wow. So I thought this was going to be. Wow. I envisioned an end where the divorce takes all of my resources. The permanent capital vehicle ends up getting liquidated. And another activist in my industry puts me out of business. And I had met Neri Oxman right around this time.

And then they, you know, came to see us and to try to, you know, be activists and force us to liquidate. And that sort of. Wow. So I thought this was going to be. Wow. I envisioned an end where the divorce takes all of my resources. The permanent capital vehicle ends up getting liquidated. And another activist in my industry puts me out of business. And I had met Neri Oxman right around this time.

And I had fallen completely in love with her. And I was envisioning a world where I was bankrupt. A judge found me guilty of, you know, whatever. You know, he sent me off to jail. Not that judge because he was a civil judge, but another judge sues the SEC, Department of Justice. And I find myself in this incredible mess. And I decided I didn't want things to end that way.

And I had fallen completely in love with her. And I was envisioning a world where I was bankrupt. A judge found me guilty of, you know, whatever. You know, he sent me off to jail. Not that judge because he was a civil judge, but another judge sues the SEC, Department of Justice. And I find myself in this incredible mess. And I decided I didn't want things to end that way.

And I had fallen completely in love with her. And I was envisioning a world where I was bankrupt. A judge found me guilty of, you know, whatever. You know, he sent me off to jail. Not that judge because he was a civil judge, but another judge sues the SEC, Department of Justice. And I find myself in this incredible mess. And I decided I didn't want things to end that way.

So I did something I'd never done before. I talked all before about you don't borrow money. I borrowed money. And I borrowed $300 million from JP Morgan in the middle of this mess. And I give JP Morgan enormous credit in seeing through it. And also, you know, I had been a good client over a long period of time. And it's like, you know, it's a handshake bank. And they bet that I would succeed.

So I did something I'd never done before. I talked all before about you don't borrow money. I borrowed money. And I borrowed $300 million from JP Morgan in the middle of this mess. And I give JP Morgan enormous credit in seeing through it. And also, you know, I had been a good client over a long period of time. And it's like, you know, it's a handshake bank. And they bet that I would succeed.

So I did something I'd never done before. I talked all before about you don't borrow money. I borrowed money. And I borrowed $300 million from JP Morgan in the middle of this mess. And I give JP Morgan enormous credit in seeing through it. And also, you know, I had been a good client over a long period of time. And it's like, you know, it's a handshake bank. And they bet that I would succeed.

And I took that money to buy enough stock in my public company that I could prevent an activist from taking over and effectively buy control of our little public company. And I got that done. And that I knew was the moment, the turning point. And I resolved my divorce and divorces get easier to resolve when things are going badly. I was able to resolve that. We settled the litigation.

And I took that money to buy enough stock in my public company that I could prevent an activist from taking over and effectively buy control of our little public company. And I got that done. And that I knew was the moment, the turning point. And I resolved my divorce and divorces get easier to resolve when things are going badly. I was able to resolve that. We settled the litigation.

And I took that money to buy enough stock in my public company that I could prevent an activist from taking over and effectively buy control of our little public company. And I got that done. And that I knew was the moment, the turning point. And I resolved my divorce and divorces get easier to resolve when things are going badly. I was able to resolve that. We settled the litigation.

I was buying blocks of our stock in the market. I remember a day I bought a big block of stock in the market. I get a call from Gordon Singer, who is Paul Singer's son, who runs their London part of their business. He's like, Bill, was that you buying that block? I said, yes. And he's like, fuck.

I was buying blocks of our stock in the market. I remember a day I bought a big block of stock in the market. I get a call from Gordon Singer, who is Paul Singer's son, who runs their London part of their business. He's like, Bill, was that you buying that block? I said, yes. And he's like, fuck.

I was buying blocks of our stock in the market. I remember a day I bought a big block of stock in the market. I get a call from Gordon Singer, who is Paul Singer's son, who runs their London part of their business. He's like, Bill, was that you buying that block? I said, yes. And he's like, fuck.

He knew that once I got that. They were not going to be able to succeed and they went away. And that was the bottom. And we've had an incredible run since then.

He knew that once I got that. They were not going to be able to succeed and they went away. And that was the bottom. And we've had an incredible run since then.

He knew that once I got that. They were not going to be able to succeed and they went away. And that was the bottom. And we've had an incredible run since then.

I mean, you know, this is a business where you're going to make some mistakes. It was a big one. It was very reputationally damaging. The press was a total disaster. But I'm not a quitter. And actually the key moments for us, we'd never taken our core investment principles and actually really written them down. Something we talked about at meetings, you know, kind of our investment team meetings.

I mean, you know, this is a business where you're going to make some mistakes. It was a big one. It was very reputationally damaging. The press was a total disaster. But I'm not a quitter. And actually the key moments for us, we'd never taken our core investment principles and actually really written them down. Something we talked about at meetings, you know, kind of our investment team meetings.