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Bill Ackman has grown Pershing Square Capital Management to more than $16 billion from $54 million since he founded the fund nearly two decades ago. The 57-year-old activist investor speaks with On The Money about his return to office policy, his possible presidential picks and why hes still bullish on New York City.

Lydia: You are among the big names on Wall Street who didn’t move to Florida. Why?

Bill: The short answer is that I love New York City. My desire to be successful is founded on a desire to be independent. It always seemed crazy to me to sacrifice that independence to save money on taxes. If you make $100 million some people in finance make even more than that you can save $25 million of that by living somewhere cheaper.

Some people choose to manage their lives that way. I do think it’s incumbent upon New York City to make this a desirable place to live and we have to make it an attractive place to do business. If one super wealthy person leaves the city thats really bad for the revenue. I dont think it’s smart to push taxes higher I think that would actually generate less revenue.

Lydia: There have been some top players in finance like Ken Griffin who have made a show of moving to Miami and talking about how smart it is for their business. But do you think that trend will be reversed? Will we see a lot of headlines in the next year about people moving back?

Bill: I think it’s a great thing that [Citadel founder] Ken Griffin is building a major campus, if you will, in New York City on Park Avenue. I think thats an amazing thing for NYC whether it’s his primary office or not, and it speaks to the fact that a lot of the youngest, most talented people want to be here. My nephew graduated from Harvard and many of his classmates moved here even before they had a job. The city is still a big draw for young people and if this is where the talented, young people want to be, then the companies will have to have a major presence here.

Lydia: Given the younger generation wants flexibility, is it realistic to expect people to return to the office five days a week? On the flip side, can New York City flourish if you dont have people back in Midtown and back in office buildings?

Bill: Everyone wants more flexible work whether its a school play, a sports game you dont want to miss and we have technology that lets you do that. What weve done at Pershing Square is bring people back five days a week 10 months a year. Of course if theres something you need to do like a doctors appointment or working from home one day, use your best judgment. And then we give people July and August to work from anywhere with the caveat that if there’s something where we need to bring everyone together, you show up. Weve experimented with that for two years and thats worked well, people like the balance, and it works for our business.

Lydia: And you believe New York will still be a place where businesses want to operate? 

Bill: I think if NYC became an unsafe place the images you see of San Francisco where you have open air drug users lying on the street that would be very damaging and could be a tipping point for people leaving the city.

You have to manage the city and its population effectively. In San Francisco you have homeless people acting in a threatening and hostile way thats led to the emptying out and death spiral of San Francisco. Again you want to manage a city so that it is pro-business and pro-resident and you want to show care for people who are less fortunate, but that doesnt mean they can defecate on the street and threaten parents or kids.

Lydia: Is NYC poised to go into that kind of death spiral?

Bill: No, I dont think so. We have a mayor who has for obvious reasons respect for the police force and I think they respect him. I think thats really important. The whole defunding the police movement was not a good one. Bail reform went too far. If you believe the statistic, it’s several hundred people committing the vast majority of street crime and those people should be locked up.

Lydia: The new movie Dumb Money and the meme stock craze clearly a cautionary tale of a short bet gone wrong. What do you make of that film?

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Bill: We are among the most famous short sellers but thats because we shorted two stocks in the last twenty years. One short theres a movie about Herbalife [Betting on Zero] and the other short theres a book about MBIA [Confidence Game]. But we dont short stocks for precisely the reason you say. We gave up that business a long time ago because its too risky. Even when youre right you can lose a lot of money. Of course, short sellers can do amazing research.

Lydia: Youve publicly applauded the work Hindenburg has done on Carl Icahns firm. How are you thinking about Icahn now? Do you think the report captured whats going on at his firm?

Bill: What Hindenburg said has been proven out.

Lydia: Youve expressed support for a lot of different 2024 presidential candidates. Anyone else you plan to support? 

Bill: Id love Jamie Dimon to be president but hes made it clear hes not going to run. Id love for a candidate of his quality to run. I think Biden-Trump part II is not the best option for America. It would be great for us to be brought together by a more centrist candidate that members of both parties can vote for. 

Lydia: What about Vivek or RFK Jr. youve tweeted support for?

Bill: Id like to see multiple alternatives. Ive been supportive of Vivek because I know him and hes super smart and capable. I wish he was a more centrist candidate. Ive not yet met RFK but hopefully will have an opportunity to do so. But I still havent found my ideal candidate. Biden should step aside and that would create a flurry of alternative candidates. People are afraid to run against the president and I think theres some possibility of that happening.

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Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry defects to Reform

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Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry defects to Reform

Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry has defected to Reform, in the latest blow to the Conservatives.

The former MP for Rossendale and Darwen, who served as Northern Powerhouse minister under Boris Johnson and lost his seat last year, said he had defected to Nigel Farage’s party because the Tories had “lost their way”.

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Reform UK confirmed the defection to Sky News, which was first broken by The Sun.

Speaking to the paper, Sir Jake said Mr Farage’s party was the “last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline”.

“Our streets are completely lawless,” he said.

“Migration is out of control. Taxes are going through the roof.

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“And day after day, I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same thing: ‘This isn’t the Britain I grew up in’.”

Sir Jake accused his former party of “abandoning the British people” but said he was not “giving up”.

“I’m staying. And I’m fighting.

“Fighting for the Britain I want my kids, and one day, my grandkids, to grow up in.”

Mr Farage welcomed what he said was “a very brave decision” by Sir Jake.

“His admission that the Conservative government he was part of broke the country is unprecedented and principled,” he added.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform support increasing the benefits bill by removing the two-child cap, and nationalising British industry. By contrast the Conservatives, under new leadership, will keep making the case for sound money, lower taxes and bringing the welfare bill under control.

“We wish Jake well in his new high spend, high tax party.”

Sir Jake’s defection to Reform comes just days after former Conservative cabinet minister David Jones joined Reform UK, which continues to lead in the polls.

European Research Group (ERG) chair Mark Francois (left), and deputy chair David Jones, speak to the media outside Portcullis House, Westminster
Image:
Former Welsh secretary David Jones (R) alongside Tory MP Mark Francois. Pic: PA

Mr Jones, who was MP for Clwyd West from 2005 until standing down in 2024, said he had quit the Tories after “more than 50 years of continuous membership”.

Sir Jake was the MP Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire between 2010 and 2024, when he was defeated by Labour’s Andy MacNae.

He held several ministerial posts including in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Energy and Climate Change and the Cabinet Office.

Nigel Farage holds up six fingers to indicate the six votes his party's candidate won by in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Nigel Farage after winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Pic: Reuters

He was also chairman of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022, under Liz Truss.

Announcing his defection – which comes a year after the Tories suffered their worst ever election defeat – Sir Jake said “Britain was broken” and “the Conservative governments I was part of share the blame”.

“We now have a tax system that punishes hard work and ambition,” he said.

“Just this week, we saw record numbers of our brightest and best people leaving Britain because they can’t see a future here. At the same time, our benefits system is pulling in the world’s poor with no plan for integration and no control over who comes in.

“If you were deliberately trying to wreck the country, you’d be hard-pressed to do a better job than the last two decades of Labour and Tory rule.

“Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in government. That’s why I’ve resigned from the Conservative Party. I’m now backing Reform UK and working to make them the next party of government.”

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He added: “And with Nigel Farage leading Reform, we’ve got someone the country can actually trust. He doesn’t change his views to fit the mood of the day. And people respect that. So do I. That’s why I believe he should be our next prime minister.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party chairman into his ranks.

“It’s clear Farage wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reform’s blueprint for Britain. It’s a recipe for disaster and working people would be left paying the price.”

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Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

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“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

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Controversial welfare bill passes final Commons stage – but only after another concession

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Controversial welfare bill passes final Commons stage - but only after another concession

Sir Keir Starmer’s watered down welfare bill has passed its final stage in the Commons, after another concession was made to MPs.

The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill passed by 336 votes to 242 on Wednesday night – a majority of 94.

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In a bid to thwart further opposition to the bill following last week’s climbdown, the government said it would not try to introduce any more reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) until a review by work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms on the assessment process has concluded.

Sir Stephen said he wanted to finish his review by next autumn, but that the government would not agree to complete the review in 12 months as some MPs wanted.

Marie Tidball, the Labour MP who had called for the 12-month limit, later signalled she was happy with the government’s compromise.

Ministers also agreed to her calls to have a majority of the taskforce looking at PIP to be disabled or from disability organisations, and for the outcome of the review to come before any PIP changes. It will also be voted on by MPs.

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A total of 47 Labour MPs have rebelled against the government to vote against its welfare reforms.

Mother of the House Diane Abbott, former minister Dawn Butler, Andy McDonald, Stella Creasy and Jonathan Brash were among those in the “no” lobby.

Meanwhile, MPs rejected a separate amendment by Green MP Sian Berry, which called for the basic rate of universal credit to increase by 4.8% above inflation each year until 2030.

A total of 39 Labour MPs voted for scrapping the clauses that halved Universal Credit for new claimants – the only major cut left in the bill after the government made its concessions.

The passing of the bill will come as a relief to Sir Keir Starmer, who last week was forced into a humiliating climbdown over his flagship welfare package in the face of significant opposition from his own MPs.

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Prior to the vote last Tuesday, the government offered significant concessions including exempting existing personal independence payment claimants (PIP) from stricter new criteria and only freezing and cutting the universal credit health top-up for new applications.

As the vote last week unfolded, it offered further confessions amid concerns the bill could be voted down – notably, that changes in eligibility for PIP would not take place until a review he is carrying out into the benefit is published in autumn 2026.

They ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to Universal Credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill – the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s Lone Parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

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