Bill Ackman's Takes on Mamdani, Trump and Investing in the AI Era | Titans and Disruptors

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:34:57 +0000

Pershing Square Founder and CEO Bill Ackman got his start by cold-calling multi-millionaires and billionaires for startup capital. Today, the billionaire hedge fund manager is a leading voice both on Wall St. and online, where he frequently shares candid opinions about investing, politics, and culture to about 2.7 million X followers.

In this episode, Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell speaks with Ackman about his insights into today’s market, how he recovered from a multi-billion dollar loss, and his perspectives on President Trump and American politics.

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Chapters:

00:00 Cold Open
01:08 Advertisement
03:19 Ackman’s market insights
05:06 Why Ackman loves Uber
07:38 SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI IPOs
11:33 Ackman’s polarizing online presence
15:02 President Trump and Trump Accounts
18:13 Effective philanthropy
27:01 Becoming Bill Ackman
31:41 Cold-Calling the Forbes 400
35:03 Ackman’s biggest wins
40:52 Investing like Buffet
44:34 Ackman’s biggest losses
52:11 Pershing Square’s company culture
56:32 What’s next for Bill Ackman