Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.
Cameron Costa | CNBC
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said Monday that he gave his entire stake in Coupang (worth more than $ 1 billion) to charity after the South Korean e-commerce company went public.
Ackman, who runs hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, invested his personal money as Coupang’s first sponsor, CNBC first reported last Thursday about the firm’s debut on the NYSE.
Coupang, often called the Amazon of South Korea, saw its shares nearly double during the first day of trading, before closing more than 40%. Shares rose about 5% to $ 51 on Monday, valuing Ackman’s 26.5 million shareholdings at more than $ 1.3 billion.
In a tweet Monday, Ackman said he was a “first-day investor” in Coupang, which was founded in 2010 by CEO Bom Kim. Ackman said the “incredible success” of the Seoul-based company will now “benefit humanity.”
Ackman said the money (the breakdown of which was not disclosed) to three charities, including its own Pershing Square Foundation.
According to its website, the PSF has committed more than $ 400 million in “grants and social investments in various fields, including health and medicine, education, economic development and social justice.”
Ackman did not identify by name the other two entities receiving their Coupang shares, calling them only “DAF” or donor-advised fund and “another nonprofit.”
“Thanks to Bom and the Coupang team on behalf of all of us!” Ackman also wrote.
Coupang raised $ 4.6 billion in its initial public offering last week, the largest this year in the United States. The company ranked No. 2 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list last year.