How Bill Ackman Is Building a Tech-Heavy Portfolio With a Buffett-Inspired Blueprint

Bill Ackman’s investment philosophy mirrors Warren Buffett’s legendary approach, yet he’s charting his own course by deploying nearly half his hedge fund into cutting-edge technology. With his Pershing Square Capital managing $14 billion in assets, Ackman has made a bold strategic bet: 45% of the entire portfolio is concentrated in just three tech giants, signaling confidence in their long-term growth potential even as their stock prices have risen substantially.

The Ackman Playbook: Value Investing Meets Tech Innovation

Unlike pure value investors who avoid emerging sectors, Ackman has embraced artificial intelligence and digital transformation as core pillars of his strategy. His playbook drew inspiration from Buffett’s decades-long success at Berkshire Hathaway, where disciplined capital allocation and a focus on quality businesses generated nearly 5.5 million percent in cumulative gains. But Ackman isn’t simply copying the Oracle of Omaha—he’s adapting those principles for the modern tech era.

Most notably, Ackman announced plans to transform Howard Hughes Holdings into a “modern-day Berkshire Hathaway,” with Pershing Square deploying $900 million to secure a 47% ownership stake. The vision includes acquiring a diversified property casualty insurance company to generate steady cash flow, a classic Buffett maneuver repackaged for the 21st century.

The Three Pillars: Uber, Alphabet, and Amazon

Rideshare Dominance: Uber’s 21% Weight

Ackman’s largest concentrated position is Uber Technologies, which constitutes 21% of Pershing Square’s equity holdings. The hedge fund accumulated over 30 million shares valued at approximately $2.8 billion by mid-year.

Uber’s competitive moat is substantial: it controls 76% of the U.S. rideshare market and operates the country’s second-largest food delivery platform. The cross-selling capability between mobility and food services creates a powerful network effect that compounds the company’s competitive advantage. In the second quarter alone, Uber generated $12.7 billion in revenue (up 18% year-over-year) with diluted earnings per share rising 34% to $0.63. Platform trips expanded 18% to 3.3 billion, while monthly active consumers climbed 15%.

Ackman publicly commended CEO Dara Khosrowshahi for executing a transformation that turned Uber into a “highly profitable and cash-generative growth machine.” The valuation remains compelling: despite the stock’s appreciation, Uber trades at just 16 times forward earnings—an attractive multiple for a market leader of this caliber.

Search and Cloud Leadership: Alphabet’s 15% Stake

Pershing Square’s second-largest position, representing 15% of portfolio holdings, is Alphabet. The combined position spans 6.3 million Class C shares and 5.4 million Class A shares, totaling more than $2 billion. Ackman initiated this investment in 2023 and increased exposure during the second quarter, citing the company’s “attractive valuation.”

Alphabet’s growth engines are firing on all cylinders. Revenue reached $96.4 billion (up 14% year-over-year), while diluted EPS surged 22% to $2.31. Google Cloud is the standout performer, with revenue jumping 32% to $13.6 billion on an annualized run rate exceeding $54 billion. The company signed as many $1 billion cloud contracts in the first half of 2025 as it did throughout all of 2024, underscoring accelerating enterprise adoption.

According to Ackman’s analysis, Alphabet is “successfully executing on its vast AI potential” across search, consumer apps, and cloud infrastructure. Yet the stock remains undervalued relative to its quality and growth trajectory, trading at 26 times earnings—a discount for a business of this scale and competitive positioning.

E-Commerce and Cloud Infrastructure: Amazon’s 9% Position

Amazon rounds out Ackman’s tech trio, comprising 9% of Pershing Square’s equity portfolio. He established a new position by purchasing 5.8 million shares worth nearly $1.3 billion during the second quarter, describing Amazon as “a company we have long studied and admired.”

Amazon’s competitive advantages are multifaceted. AWS and e-commerce retail are “category-defining franchises” with decades of secular growth ahead. Both businesses occupy dominant market positions with significant room for margin expansion. Second-quarter results validated this thesis: net sales reached $167.7 billion (up 13% year-over-year) with EPS jumping 33% to $1.68. CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the company’s aggressive AI push as a competitive differentiator, pointing to Alexa+, its generative AI voice assistant, and new e-commerce shopping agents.

Beyond consumer-facing applications, Amazon is optimizing a fleet exceeding 1 million robots and enabling AWS customers to construct AI agents more readily. Though the stock has appreciated meaningfully since Pershing established its stake, Ackman maintains that “substantial upside remains given its ability to drive a high level of earnings growth for a very long time.” The valuation metric tells the story: a PEG ratio of 0.58 signals undervaluation when any ratio below 1.0 indicates an attractive entry point.

The Bill Ackman Thesis: Quality at Scale

What unites these three positions is Ackman’s conviction that each company combines exceptional management, durable competitive advantages, and compelling valuations. By concentrating 45% of a $14 billion portfolio into these three tech leaders, he’s making a calculated bet that their long-term earnings power justifies his conviction.

The strategy echoes Buffett’s approach while updating it for a technology-driven economy. Rather than shying away from innovation, Ackman is betting that AI, cloud computing, and network effects will define the next generation of wealth creation—and that Uber, Alphabet, and Amazon are positioned to capture that value for years to come.