Bill Ackman Says He Wasn’t Blaming Retail Investors For PSUS Stock’s Post-IPO Tumble: ‘I Was Simply Explaining…’

• Pershing Square USA and Pershing Square Inc. began trading on the NYSE on Wednesday.
• Earlier, Ackman had also disclosed that he had purchased 500,000 PSUS shares and 800,000 PS shares in the open market after the debut.
• PSUS stock closed at $43.76 on Thursday, about 12% lower than its IPO price of $50, while PS stock closed at $28.05.

American billionaire Bill Ackman clarified on Thursday that he did not blame retail investors for the price drop in Pershing Square USA, Ltd. (PSUS) and Pershing Square Inc. (PS) stocks.

PSUS and PS stocks, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, are both trading well below their listing prices. PSUS stock closed at $43.76 on Thursday, about 12% lower than its IPO price of $50, while PS stock closed at $28.05.

“I was not blaming retail investors. I was simply explaining what we believe had occurred. We just did not appreciate this dynamic in making our allocation decisions,” Ackman said in a post on X.

Ackman’s Defense

The founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management had previously said in an interview with CNBC that stock market debuts usually favored institutional investors, while retail allocations were held back. “We did the opposite,” he had said.

However, after allegations of Ackman blaming retail investors for the weak performance of his closed-end fund’s listing, the billionaire clarified that all he did was “explain to the media that we had chosen to favor retail allocations over institutional orders by giving retail investors 100% allocations and cutting back institutions.”

Further, Ackman said that the late start to trading potentially resulted in investors who had been allocated more shares than they wanted to sell their positions quickly. “This likely led to dumping of the shares of both PSUS and PS before the market closed,” he said.

Earlier, Ackman also disclosed in a post that he had purchased 500,000 shares of Pershing Square USA and 800,000 shares of Pershing Square Inc. in the open market, for an estimated combined value of more than $40 million.

What’s Retail Saying?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PSUS stock climbed from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ territory over 24 hours, while for PS stock, it slipped from ‘extremely bullish’ to ‘bullish’ territory.

One user appreciated PSUS stock’s performance in the day’s trading, adding that they were bullish in the long term.

Another user suggested that the market should “give it time” for PS stock to prove itself.

A third user said they had purchased both stocks. “Love or hate bill he’s made a ton of money over the years. Yes he’s got a few wrong but overall he has an impressive track record. I think these will do well long term,” the user said.

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