Bill Ackman Seeks to Delist Companies From Amsterdam After Attack on Israelis

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, speaks at an event in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2017. Mike Blake/Reuters

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is looking to deslist Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) and Universal Music Group (UMG) from the Euronext stock exchange based in Amsterdam following recent attacks against Israeli sports fans in the city.

On Nov. 7, Israeli soccer fans were targeted in violent attacks after a match in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Social media videos show people running frantically amid the chaos, mobs shouting “Free Palestine” and checking people’s passports to identify Israeli nationals. Following the incident, Ackman said he is “going to seek approval from the board of Pershing Square Holdings—in which I and my family own 23 percent of the shares—to eliminate its listing on the @euronext Amsterdam exchange,” according to a Nov. 8 X post.

PSH is an investment holding company that started operations in 2012. It has nearly $18 billion in assets under management as of October 2024.

Ackman pointed out that the PSH board has been considering withdrawing from Amsterdam since the company’s London Stock Exchange (LSE) listing represented more than 90 percent of its trading. The attack on Israelis in Amsterdam provides an “appropriate tipping point for this conclusion.”

“Concentrating the listing on one exchange, the LSE, and leaving a jurisdiction that fails to protect its tourists and minority populations combine both good business and moral principles. We can also save money and improve liquidity for shareholders to boot,” he wrote.

The billionaire revealed he has also started discussions with music company UMG to move its domicile and listing to the United States from the Netherlands.

Ackman, who sits on the board at UMG, said such a move would offer “highly material benefits.” He pointed out that PSH has a “contractual right” to list UMG in the United States.

“UMG trades at a large discount to its intrinsic value with limited liquidity in significant part due to it not having its primary listing on the @NYSE or @NasdaqExchange and not being eligible for S&P 500 and other index inclusion. We are going to fix this. Now is a good and appropriate time to do so,” Ackman said.

Eli David, an investor and entrepreneur, welcomed the decision. “As a shareholder of Pershing Square Holdings, I am happy to see that it is guided not only by your business wisdom but also by your moral compass,” he said in a Nov. 8 X post.

Luca Schnettler, founder of IT company Qumata, questioned Ackman’s decision. He pointed out in an X post that the number one rule taught to investors and traders was to never make emotional decisions.

“I can certainly understand the anger Ackman must feel but what does this have to do with his listing in Amsterdam?” he said.

Meanwhile, around 60 individuals were arrested for their involvement in the Amsterdam attacks. The government of Israel was initially planning on sending a rescue mission headed by the Israel Defense Forces to the Netherlands. However, it was later decided that the Israeli citizens would be brought back home via civilian flights.

Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was “ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands.”

Stance Against Anti-Semitism

Ackman has previously taken a strong stand against incidents of anti-Semitism. In November last year, he wrote a letter to Harvard President Claudine Gay over the alleged anti-Semitic incidents at the institution following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

“Jewish students are being bullied, physically intimidated, spat on, and in several widely-disseminated videos of one such incident, physically assaulted,” Ackman wrote.

He accused Harvard of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects individuals against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

In January this year, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said that Ackman and his wife would buy a 4.9 percent stake in the exchange, signaling a vote of confidence in the country’s economy amid its war against Hamas terrorists.

A Sept. 30 report from the Jewish advocacy Anti-Defamation League, found there has been an “undeniable tsunami of unprecedented global anti-Semitism” since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including in Europe.

France saw a 1,000 percent jump in anti-Semitic incidents in the three months after Oct. 7, 2023, the report said. In the Netherlands, such occurrences were up 818 percent in the month after the attack.