Top 34 Bill Ackman Quotes (BETTING ON ZERO)

In the exhilarating world of hedge funds and high-stakes investing, there are few names as renowned or as polarizing as Bill Ackman. Known for his bold bets in the market and his relentless advocacy for corporate transparency and accountability, Ackman has carved a unique niche in the realm of finance.

These quotes aren’t just investment advice; they are life lessons from a man who has repeatedly demonstrated the courage to challenge conventional wisdom and take the road less traveled. They offer insights into resilience, strategic thinking, and the value of conviction that form the bedrock of Ackman’s investment philosophy.

Whether you’re an emerging investor, a seasoned financier, or just someone fascinated by the world of finance, these quotes will provoke thought, sharpen your understanding, and inspire you to question and challenge.

7 Best Bill Ackman Quotes to Inspire Success in Life and Business

In order to be successful, you have to make sure that being rejected doesn’t bother you at all.

I love what I do. I don't do it for the money. I work on behalf of investors that I like and want to do well for. I'm a competitive person. — I love what I do. I don’t do it for the **money**. I work on behalf of investors that I like and want to do well for. I’m a competitive person.

I am always prepared to do the right thing regardless of what other people think.

If I believe that I am right, I will take it to the end of the earth until I am proven right.

Investing is a business where you can look very silly for a long period of time before you are proven right.

I want to have one of the great investment records of all time, why not — I want to have one of the great **investment** records of all time, why not?

“Short-term market and economic prognostication is largely a fool’s errand, we invest according to a strategy that makes the need to rely on short-term market or economic assessments largely irrelevant.”
Bill Ackman

22 Highly Inspirational Bill Ackman Quotes to Empower and Motivate You

Experience is making mistakes and learning from them. — Experience is making mistakes and **learning** from them.

Everyone told me it was a really stupid idea to start my own hedge fund right out of business school. That’s how I knew that it was a good idea.

Let me win? That doesn’t exist in my house. No one lets anyone win. Fight to the death.

You should surround yourself with people that believe in you, in life, and in business.

I think good private equity investors create a lot more economic value than they destroy.

“From day one, I was always unafraid to ask someone to invest because, I thought that, while capital was a commodity, good investment ideas were rare assets.”
Bill Ackman

I’m a very straightforward person. I say precisely what I think. Sometimes it rubs people the wrong way.

What I love about tennis is that I’m better now than I was when I was 20.

I'm not emotional about investments. Investing is something where you have to be purely rational and not let emotion affect your decision making - just the facts. — I’m not emotional about **investments**. Investing is something where you have to be purely rational and not let emotion affect your decision making – just the facts.

I'm an extremely, extremely persistent person. Extremely. And when I believe I am right, and it is important, I will go to the end of the earth. — I’m an extremely, extremely persistent person. Extremely. And when I believe I am right, and it is important, I will go to the end of the earth.

Ultimately, investors are - are only as good as their track records. — Ultimately, investors are – are only as good as their track records.

What the market tells you in the short term is what a certain subset of people believe. That doesn’t mean they’re right.

“I think most investors overdiversify because they’re lazy. They haven’t done enough research into any of their companies. If they’ve got 200 positions, do you think they know what’s going on at any one of those companies at this moment?”
Bill Ackman

You can learn investing by reading books. — You can **learn** investing by reading books.

Investing is one of the few things you can learn on your own. — Investing is one of the few things you can **learn** on your own.

I have more money than I need. I don’t need to work for a living. I do this because I love what I do. — I have more **money** than I need. I don’t need to work for a living. I do this because I love what I do.

I’ve seen very few people in the world accomplish anything unless they were optimists.

In the investing business you need a - a high degree of confidence but you also need a high degree of humbleness and you have to balance those two… Humbleness comes from mistakes. — In the investing business you need a – a high degree of **confidence** but you also need a high degree of humbleness and you have to balance those two… Humbleness comes from mistakes.

We invest generally in very good companies that have lost their way. And with better management, enormous value can be created.

The untold secret of McDonald’s is that when you sell a restaurant to a franchisee, sales typically go up a lot because the franchisees do a much better job managing the store.

What motivates people to succeed Sex. People don’t like to admit it, but it’s the primal driver. — What motivates people to succeed? Sex. People don’t like to admit it, but it’s the primal driver.

“Short-term market and economic prognostication is largely a fool’s errand, we invest according to a strategy that makes the need to rely on short-term market or economic assessments largely irrelevant.”
Bill Ackman

5 Famous Bill Ackman Quotes on Herbalife

They’ve never had someone like me prepared to say the truth about [Herbalife]. I’m going to the end of the earth. I had a moral obligation. — They’ve never had someone like me prepared to say the **truth** about [Herbalife]. I’m going to the end of the earth. I had a moral obligation.

If you look at the great frauds of all time, Enron had that phantom trading floor. What Herbalife has is it has phantom or fictitious customers. — If you look at the great frauds of all **time**, Enron had that phantom trading floor. What Herbalife has is it has phantom or fictitious customers.

Herbalife the customers are fictitious, the business opportunity is a scam, the university degree is a fraud.

If you think of the typical Herbalife distributor and their level of sophistication, to this day I still don't understand the marketing plan - true story. — If you think of the typical Herbalife distributor and their level of sophistication, to this day I still don’t understand the marketing plan – true story.

“It is a certainty that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. We believe it’s harming a population of low-income, principally Hispanic people in the U.S. to benefit a handful of super-wealthy people at the top of the pyramid.”
Bill Ackman

Bill Ackman Short Biography

Born on 11 May 1966 in New York, the U.S., William Albert Ackman (goes by the name Bill Ackman) is an American investor and hedge fund manager who founded the Pershing Square Capital Management back in 2003.

Bill Ackman rose to fame for his short of bond insurer MBIA and his rescue of mall operator General Growth. Lately, Ackman is also known for his heated exchange between Carl Icahn over Herbalife on CNBC (aka Clash of Titans).

Ackman is notoriously known for shorting Herbalife, calling the company fraud, and making a big bet predicting that the company would fall sooner than later.

Turned out, Bill Ackman had made an expensive wrong bet for shorting Herbalife. As a result, Carl Icahn made over $1 billion on Herbalife while Bill Ackman had lost close to that amount over the span of 5 years.

Speculation calls the man a contrarian investor but Ackman considers himself an activist investor.

Further reading:

Five years after brawl with Icahn, Ackman exits losing bet against Herbalife – CNBC
Inside Bill Ackman’s $2.6bn big short – Financial Times
Bill Ackman turned a $27 million bet into $2.6 billion in a genius investment. Here are 12 of the best trades of all time. – Market Insider
7 Lessons From Bill Ackman’s $27M Bet That Netted Him $2.6B – Entrepreneur’s Handbook

Here are the best Bill Ackman quotes so you can defend your position with thought leadership and have a wise exit-plan in place when predicting downward trends.

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**Confidence Game: How Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman Called Wall Street’s Bluff**

Also read:

7 Best Bill Ackman Quotes to Inspire Success in Life and Business

22 Highly Inspirational Bill Ackman Quotes to Empower and Motivate You

5 Famous Bill Ackman Quotes on Herbalife

Bill Ackman Short Biography

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