New York, NY – Shares of Bill Ackman's Pershing Square USA (PSUS) tumbled 18% on their New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut on April 29, 2026, closing at $40.90 after pricing at $50 per share. The highly anticipated initial public offering, which included the closed-end fund PSUS and its parent company Pershing Square Inc. (PS), raised a combined $5 billion, marking one of the largest closed-end fund IPOs in U.S. history. The NYSE announced the event, stating, "Big day on Wall Street: @BillAckman to ring the Opening Bell as Pershing Square celebrates its IPOs."
Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square, rang the opening bell at the NYSE to commemorate the dual listing. The offering aimed to provide retail investors access to a hedge-fund-style vehicle, with Ackman expressing a desire to model it after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Investors in PSUS also received bonus shares in Pershing Square Inc., a structure intended to sweeten the deal and address concerns about closed-end funds often trading at a discount.
Despite the innovative structure and Ackman's prominent profile, the market reaction was notably negative on the first day of trading. PSUS opened at $42, already down 16% from its IPO price, and continued to drift lower. The parent company, PS, also began trading, closing at $24.20.
The IPO proceeds of $5 billion fell short of earlier ambitions, with reports indicating an initial target of up to $10 billion. This debut marks Ackman's second attempt to list such a fund in the U.S., following a withdrawn launch in 2024 due to weak demand. The fund aims to hold a concentrated portfolio of large-cap North American-listed companies, mirroring the investment strategy of its London-listed counterpart, Pershing Square Holdings.
