Skip to main content

The Circling Sharks

 




Just about a year ago I wrote about a fellow named Bill Ackman and my concerns as he and his investment company, Pershing Square, ramped up purchases of Howard Hughes stock with the intent of gaining control of it operations. My thoughts:

When you are a company that makes something, or does something, you are keenly aware of where your focus should be. What constitutes excellence? Making the best somethings, or doing the best job at the something you do. If you are Bill Ackman, you are so far removed from that concept that your goals are wholly disconnected from what created those companies in the first place. 

 - - Food Chain, Village Green/Town², 1/15/2025

The Baltimore Banner has been following Ackman’s progress. From their article in May:

The hedge fund will pay $100 per share to snap up nine million newly issued shares in Howard Hughes while giving the company access to Pershing Square’s resources and expertise.

The agreement limits the hedge fund‘s voting power to 40% and its beneficial ownership to 47%, even as it installs Ackman as executive chairman of Howard Hughes’ board of directors.

- - Bill Ackman’s hedge fund just got closer to buying downtown developer, Lillian Reed, Baltimore Banner

Now, 1) I’m no expert in hedge funds and 2) I’ve seen other locals opine on how this is not really a big deal and that fears of how this might impact Columbia are overblown. Let’s face it, there’s not a whole lot I personally could do about it if I didn’t like it.

So, it’s almost a year later and last night I read this post: 

There's a $10,000 donation on that Jonathan Ross GoFundMe from one William Ackman.

I checked.  There is. What I don’t have is reliable confirmation that it is the Bill Ackman of Pershing Square and Howard Hughes. (He did apparently share the GoFundMe information openly through his social media accounts.) As an aside, if you think that allowing a fundraising account that supports violent crime violates the GoFundMe terms of service, you might want to write and let them know. 

I absolutely will update this as soon as I know one way or another. UPDATE: Yes, it was that Bill Ackman.

I share this today largely because there has been so much going on in the past year that I honestly haven’t been keeping track of Mr. Ackman as he consolidates more commercial power. It reminds me that I still think he bears watching. 

As if there aren’t enough things these days that bear watching.



Village Green/Town² Comments






Comments

  1. Julia A. McCreadyJanuary 12, 2026 at 4:01 AM

    Please do not submit comments here. This function will be disabled shortly. Use the link above instead. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more