10% position, a $2 billion heavy bet! Bill Ackman "bottom fishing" Meta

Renowned hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is betting that Meta will succeed in the artificial intelligence race. His firm, Pershing Square, has established approximately a $2 billion position in Meta, accounting for 10% of its fund capital, making it one of the company’s largest holdings.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pershing Square disclosed this investment at its annual investor meeting on Wednesday. The firm began building its position in Meta last November, with an average cost of $625 per share. At that time, investors were concerned about Meta’s heavy spending in AI, which caused its stock price to decline about 13% over the past six months, creating an entry point for Pershing Square.

Pershing Square believes that Meta’s business model is one of the clearest beneficiaries of AI integration. The fund stated in its investor presentation that AI will enhance Meta’s content recommendation and personalized advertising capabilities, and could open new opportunities in wearable devices or enterprise AI digital assistants.

As of Wednesday’s close, Meta’s stock price was $669, up about 14% since Pershing Square’s initial position. However, unlike the market reaction to Ackman’s previous investments, Meta’s stock price was essentially flat on the day of the disclosure. In April last year, Ackman’s stake in car rental company Hertz led to a stock surge of over 50%.

Continued Concentrated Investment Style

Ackman is known for a highly concentrated portfolio. By the end of 2025, Pershing Square will hold only 13 stocks, including other large tech companies like Alphabet and Amazon. In recent months, the fund has exited two long-term holdings—Chipotle Mexican Grill and Hilton Worldwide.

Meta has become the fund’s third-largest tech holding. This allocation reflects Ackman’s preference for a few high-conviction positions rather than diversification.

Pershing Square Holdings achieved a 20.9% return last year, outperforming the S&P 500’s total return of 17.9%. Its main contributors were Alphabet, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. However, in January this year, the fund declined 2.5%.

From the time of Meta’s position initiation through the end of 2025, the stock has risen 11%, and as of February 9 this year, it has increased another 3%. This performance supports Pershing Square’s overall returns.

In addition to Meta, Pershing Square made other large investments in 2025. The fund invested $900 million in real estate company Howard Hughes Holdings and provided up to $1 billion to support its acquisition of insurance firm Vantage Group Holdings.

Notably, Ackman is a follower of Warren Buffett, aiming to turn Howard Hughes into a diversified holding company similar to Berkshire Hathaway. This strategy indicates his investment approach has evolved beyond simple stock picking toward deeper corporate value restructuring.

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