By Dave Kovaleski
Publication Date: 2026-08-06 05:00:00
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, made a big bet earlier this year on “Magnificent Seven” stock Microsoft (MSFT +0.03%).
In the first-quarter 13F filing, released in May, Pershing Square revealed it bought 5.7 million shares of Microsoft stock at a value of $2.1 billion. The tech giant immediately became Ackman’s fourth-largest holding, making up 15.2% of the portfolio.
The purchase came when Microsoft stock was trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21, the lowest it had been since 2017 and some 32% below Microsoft’s average P/E ratio of 31.
At that valuation, getting a powerhouse stock like Microsoft was a no-brainer.
Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman. Image source: Getty Images.
In mid-2017, Microsoft was trading at about $75 per share. Over the next four years, the stock price surged some 300% to over $300 per share by October 2021.
The value was not lost on Ackman.
“In our 13F which we…
