NEW YORK — Billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings portfolio has lost 24.5% this year, extending its fall this week as its biggest holding, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, declined further, the company said on its website.
Valeant's stock price has tumbled 72% from its high this summer with the losses accelerating in recent weeks amid questions about the company's accounting and business practices and criticisms for price gouging. It has lost 11% in the past five days.
Ackman's $14.5 billion Pershing Square Capital Management paid roughly $186 per share for its 21.4 million shares of Valeant. The stock closed at $72.58 on Wednesday. Last year, the hedge fund was one of the industry's best performers with a 40% gain.
Pershing Square has several portfolios, with Pershing Square Holdings being the most aggressive, so the losses are modestly less at its other portfolios, a person familiar with the numbers said.
Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss. Editing by Alan Crosby.
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