Bill Ackman

Bill Ackman
Benjamin Wachenje

Title: Founder and CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management

Born: May 11, 1966, Chappaqua, New York

Education: BA, Harvard College; MBA, Harvard Business School

Early Marker: Joined consortium bid for Rockefeller Center in 1995, which put his tiny investment firm, Gotham Partners, founded in 1992, on investors' radar.

Big Idea: Using his Pershing Square long/short hedge funds to launch activist campaigns against companies such as Wendy's J.C. Penney and Herbalife; reportedly planning to take one of his hedge funds public to raise permanent capital.

Wave of the Future: Activist investing

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