Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who leads Pershing Square Capital Management, made a big bet on Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) back in 2023 with shares beaten down. Three years later, Ackman is up significantly on his position.
Here's a look at Ackman's history with Alphabet shares and how much he's gained since the latest 13F filing reflecting holdings on Sept. 30, 2025.
Ackman's Big Bet On Alphabet
Ackman took an initial stake in Alphabet stock in the first quarter of 2023, buying 8,069,770 Class C (GOOG) shares and 2,185,000 Class A (GOOGL) shares.
Those positions changed over the years and as of the end of the third quarter, here are the totals for Pershing Square:
- 6,324,031 GOOG shares
- 4,843,973 GOOGL shares
Ackman sold 10% of the Class A shares in the third quarter, lowering the stake by 519,007 shares.
At the end of the third quarter, here were the values of the stakes:
- GOOG shares: $1,540,217,750.05
- GOOGL shares: $1,177,569,836.3
Those values have soared since the end of the third quarter, with Alphabet shares hitting new all-time highs in December and again in January.
Here are the current values of Pershing's stakes based on $330.70 for GOOG shares and $330.79 for GOOGL shares at the time of writing:
- GOOG stake: $2,091,926,214.49
- GOOGL stake: $1,602,337,828.67
This means that Ackman's fund is currently up $551,708,464.44 and $1,484,580,845.04 on the respective positions since the end of the third quarter. This marks a gain of $2,036,289,309.48 for Ackman's fund for the two stocks since the end of September.
Ackman's History With Alphabet Stock
Ackman saw Alphabet as undervalued back in 2023, betting big on taking an initial position.
GOOG shares traded between $85.57 and $108.82 in the first quarter of 2023. This means that shares are up 203.9% to $286.5% since the initial purchase.
GOOGL shares traded between $84.86 and $108.18 in the first quarter of 2023. This means that shares are up 205.8% to $289.8% since the initial purchase.
Ackman added to his position in Alphabet stock since that initial purchase.
However, the latest third-quarter filing revealed the 10% trim on GOOGL shares, lowering the amount owned by 519,007 shares.
This cut means Ackman's fund missed out on profits since the end of the third quarter from shares going higher.
A new 13F from Pershing Square Capital Management is due next month. Investors will be watching closely to see if Ackman made changes to the Alphabet stake in the fourth quarter, potentially taking profits.
Increasing the position or leaving the stakes the same could indicate more bullishness for Alphabet from Ackman, which comes after Alphabet was the top-performing Magnificent Seven stock in 2025 with a gain of 65.2%.
Photo: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock
