Ackman Gives Up on Netflix, Taking $400 Million Loss as Shares Tumble

Ackman Gives Up on Netflix, Taking $400 Million Loss as Shares Tumble
Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2017. Mike Blake/Reuters
|Updated:

Billionaire investor William Ackman liquidated a $1.1 billion bet on Netflix on Wednesday, locking in a loss of more than $400 million as the streaming service’s stock plunged following news that it lost subscribers for the first time in a decade.

Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management made an abrupt U-turn, selling the 3.1 million shares it had bought just three months ago as Netflix' shares tumbled 35 percent to $226.19.