Ackman to Launch Pershing Square Pre-IPO Evergreen Fund

Pershing Square is preparing Pershing Square Ventures Ltd, an evergreen permanent-capital vehicle that will invest in privately held, pre-IPO companies and seek approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund is being structured to keep investments after companies list and is targeting a launch in the autumn or, at the latest, by year-end.

Ackman and Pershing Square’s chief investment officer, Ryan Israel, have begun assembling the initial portfolio using private investments already on the firm’s balance sheet. Some assets held by Ackman’s family office are expected to be transferred into the vehicle. The fund will cover companies valued from several hundred million dollars up to so-called decacorns worth more than $10 billion.

As an evergreen vehicle, the fund will be able to hold stakes for longer horizons rather than sell when a portfolio company goes public. Pershing Square expects the fund to be relatively small at inception and not to make a material contribution to the firm’s assets under management.

The fund follows other recent changes at Pershing Square. In April, Pershing Square USA began trading as a closed-end fund, and Pershing Square itself completed a stock market listing. The firm also recently disclosed new public-market positions in Visa, Mastercard and Netflix. Several closed-end funds focused on private assets have come to market this year, including vehicles linked to Robinhood Markets, Fundrise and Powerlaw.

Ackman noted, “By the time some of the most successful technology companies reach public markets, their valuations can already be exceptionally high.” He pointed to early investments in SpaceX, X and xAI as examples of opportunities that public-market investors have historically had limited access to.

Pershing Square has not released final details on the fund’s size, fee structure or specific initial holdings.