#413 – Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech

Bill Ackman is an investor who has led some of the biggest and controversial financial trades in history. He is founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack
– Policygenius: https://policygenius.com/lex
– AG1: https://drinkag1.com/lex to get 1 month supply of fish oil
– Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/lex to get special savings
– BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off

Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/bill-ackman-transcript

EPISODE LINKS:
Bill’s X: https://twitter.com/BillAckman
Pershing Square Holdings: https://pershingsquareholdings.com/
Pershing Square Foundation: https://pershingsquarefoundation.org
Neri Oxman conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbPHojL_61U
Books mentioned:
The Intelligent Investor: https://amzn.to/3ONnaZy
America’s Cultural Revolution: https://amzn.to/3SDz1dY

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:55) – Investing basics
(13:47) – Investing in music
(22:08) – Process of researching companies
(26:47) – Investing in restaurants
(32:16) – Investing in Google
(37:58) – AI
(43:13) – Warren Buffet
(45:22) – Psychology of investing
(54:53) – Activist investing
(1:04:41) – General Growth Properties
(1:20:57) – Canadian Pacific Railway
(1:28:21) – OpenAI
(1:32:32) – Biggest loss and lowest point
(1:47:21) – Herbalife and Carl Icahn
(2:04:11) – Oct 7
(2:10:42) – College campus protests
(2:29:09) – DEI in universities
(2:50:00) – Neri Oxman
(3:15:30) – X and free speech
(3:19:54) – Trump
(3:27:30) – Dean Phillips
(3:34:36) – Future