Ackman's Pershing Square Returns to Netflix Four Years After $400M Exit

NEW YORK — William Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings Ltd. has acquired a fresh stake in Netflix Inc. (NFLX), marking the billionaire investor's second time buying into the streaming giant — four years after selling out at a loss.

Pershing Square previously sold its NFLX shares in April 2022 after holding them for just three months, booking a loss exceeding $400 million on 3.1 million shares. Ackman said at the time he had "lost confidence" in his ability to predict Netflix's future prospects with sufficient certainty.

The exit came after Netflix reported its first subscriber loss in a decade — a drop of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 — compounded by the loss of roughly 700,000 members following the suspension of service in Russia.

Netflix shares have since risen nearly 650 percent from Pershing Square's 2022 exit, driven by a crackdown on password sharing, the launch of a cheaper ad-supported subscription tier and an expansion into live content and sports programming.

The re-entry follows a roughly 50 percent pullback in NFLX from its June 2025 highs, which Pershing Square viewed as a buying opportunity.

In its latest Investment Manager's Report, Pershing Square said Netflix has effectively won the streaming wars — a reversal of its previous stance on the competitive landscape. The firm pointed to Netflix's position as the dominant global streaming platform, with over 325 million subscribers, nearly double the combined base of Walt Disney's Disney+ and Warner Bros. Discovery's Max.

Pershing Square also highlighted Netflix's content spending discipline. Cash content spend has grown at just 2 percent annually, the firm said, pointing to efficient capital allocation.

Ackman and Chief Investment Officer Ryan Israel said in a second-quarter letter to investors that a market heavily focused on artificial intelligence had created valuation opportunities in other sectors.

Pershing Square runs a concentrated portfolio of roughly a dozen companies, typically targeting quality assets trading at a cyclical discount and anticipating multiple expansion as sentiment shifts.

The re-entry follows a roughly 50 percent pullback in NFLX from its June 2025 highs, which Pershing Square viewed as a buying opportunity.

Pershing Square also highlighted Netflix's content spending discipline. Cash content spend has grown at just 2 percent annually, the firm said, pointing to efficient capital allocation.

Pershing Square runs a concentrated portfolio of roughly a dozen companies, typically targeting quality assets trading at a cyclical discount and anticipating multiple expansion as sentiment shifts.