Pershing Square Launches $64 Billion Universal Music Bid Ahead of NYSE Listing

Pershing Square Capital Management has launched a $64 billion bid to acquire Universal Music Group, pushing founder Bill Ackman’s investment firm into a massive corporate buyout ahead of a planned public listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The buyout proposal follows Pershing Square’s regulatory filing last month to list a new fund on the NYSE, an initiative intended to establish permanent capital and restructure the firm along the lines of a holding company. Ackman cited a target to unleash “long-term value” at Universal Music Group through private collaboration with management, mirroring value-investing strategies popularized by Berkshire Hathaway.

Pershing Square has delivered compound annual returns of approximately 20% before fees since its founding in 2004, matching the six-decade track record of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which has roughly doubled the historic performance of the S&P 500. However, Pershing operates with double the portfolio turnover of Berkshire and places a stronger emphasis on fee growth and asset management expansion akin to Blackstone.

The $64 billion transaction marks a significant evolution for Ackman, whose public activism has frequently driven sharp market reactions. Shares of government-sponsored mortgage entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac surged 40% in a single day after Ackman declared them “stupidly cheap,” though high-stakes activist fights, such as an extended short position against Herbalife, generated substantial friction with Wall Street peers.

The takeover effort coincides with widespread gains across international financial markets, where S&P 500 futures advanced 2.51% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 5.39%. Digital assets also saw upward momentum, with Bitcoin rising to $71,000.