Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is giving 26.5 million shares of Coupang to the Pershing Square Foundation and another non-profit
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images/The New York Times
- Bill Ackman is giving away 26.5 million shares of Coupang, worth $1.113 billion as of Friday's closing price.
- The billionaire hedge fund manager said the stock will "benefit humanity" in a Monday tweet.
- The billionaire is most well known as the founder of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital.
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Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital is donating 26.5 million shares of the South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang to the Pershing Square Foundation and another non-profit, according to a Monday tweet from the hedge fund manager.
The billionaire hedge fund manager said the stock will now "benefit humanity" as a result of its "incredible success."
Ackman is a "day one" investor in Coupang. The fund manager participated in a 2014 seed round of funding for the South Korean company, along with the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and asset manager BlackRock.
Ackman's 26.5 million shares were worth $1.113 billion as of Friday's closing price.
The hedge fund manager is donating his shares to the Pershing Square Foundation and another non-profit that he didn't name.
The Pershing Square Foundation is a Donor Advised Fund or DAF that was established in 2006 in order to "support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social issues and deliver scalable and sustainable impact across the globe."
The foundation has committed over $400 million in grants and social investments since inception.
Ackman has been in the news of late due to his move into SPACs. The hedge fund manager's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings has quickly become the most popular special purpose acquisition company amongst hedge funds.
More than 50 hedge funds handed Ackman's SPAC $818 million to find a merger partner to take public.
Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, was in the news recently after the fund turned in a record 70% return in 2020.
Ackman is also known for his philanthropic work. The hedge fund manager was named one of the most generous billionaires in America by Forbes in December of last year.