Coronavirus might have brought most of the world to a grounding halt. But not Bill Ackman.
The ace investor and long-time hedge fund manager has pocketed a net profit of USD 2.6 billion (Aprox. Rs 95,000 crore) on Monday after he sold his "defensive" bets against the market less than a week after warning in a TV interview that “hell is coming”.
Ackman said in the interview over a week ago that US president Donald Trump must both shut the nation’s borders as well as offer Americans a one-month rent, interest and tax holiday to help offset an expected fall in US GDP growth triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
A few days later, the hedge fund manager revealed that his firm has netted a USD 2.6 billion (approx. Rs 95,000 crore) profit from the coronavirus market betting.
“On March 23, we completed the exit of our hedges generating proceeds of USD 2.6 billion for the Pershing Square funds, compared with premiums paid and commissions totaling USD 27 million,” Ackman said in a letter addressed to the investors.
He also revealed that the credit protection on various global investment-grade and high-yield credit indices resulted in the high returns.
Ackman had said that he will be ploughing the returns back into the equity markets again.