Ackman Bets $2 Billion on Meta's AI Ambitions

In a major portfolio shift, billionaire investor Bill Ackman has placed a $2 billion wager on Meta Platforms Inc. Pershing Square Capital Management disclosed the new position, roughly 6.79 million shares acquired in late 2025, in a February 2026 regulatory filing. To fund the purchase, Ackman sold his fund's entire stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings, a long-term winner, signaling a powerful conviction in his new target.

The move arrives as Meta's stock faces pressure. Investors are wary of the company's massive spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, with capital expenditures projected to hit $60-$65 billion this year. Ackman's thesis, however, contends the market is fixated on short-term costs while underestimating AI's long-term potential to boost Meta's core business.

He sees Meta's existing apps—Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp—and their billions of users as an unmatched network. Investments in AI, like the open-source Llama model, are viewed as tools to better monetize that network through sharper ad targeting, improved content feeds, and new services. While Meta's costly Reality Labs division remains a concern, Ackman appears to believe the company's strong cash flow can support both its AI push and its metaverse experiments.

This investment is characteristic of Ackman: a concentrated bet on a temporarily unpopular company where he sees a fundamental mispricing. His entry provides a notable vote of confidence in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's strategic pivot and suggests some major investors view AI not as a speculative bubble, but as a transformation worth backing at scale.

Source: Webpronews