For the last 22 years, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management has delivered a 15.9% annualized return — beating the S&P 500's 10.7% by more than five percentage points every single year. He is also one of the few prominent billionaires to publicly and unapologetically back President Trump. When Ackman makes a major portfolio move, it is worth paying attention.

This week, he made one of the biggest moves of his career.

Ackman disclosed six new stock positions, all acquired during the second quarter of 2026: Netflix, Visa, Mastercard, eye care company Alcon, exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange, and financial data provider S&P Global. The reshuffling was described as the largest portfolio overhaul in years for Pershing Square, which manages $13.7 billion across multiple funds — including Pershing Square USA, his newest vehicle, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in April.

The money to fund these purchases came largely from the sale of Pershing Square's $1.5 billion stake in Universal Music Group. Ackman walked away after rejecting a $65 billion takeover bid for the company — a decision that signals he believes the six new names will compound faster than the global music business over the long run.

Here is what he bought and why each one matters:

Netflix. Ackman and Pershing Square Chief Investment Officer Ryan Israel describe Netflix as having "effectively won the streaming wars." After years of industry upheaval, Netflix has emerged as the dominant force in global streaming, expanding into live sports and building out a growing advertising business. It now holds the kind of durable competitive position that Ackman's entire investment philosophy is built to find. The stock climbed 3.3% the day the new position was announced.

Visa and Mastercard. These two companies own the electronic rails that power global payments. Every card swipe, online purchase, and mobile payment runs through their networks, generating a small fee each time. They collect those fees billions of times per day, with virtually no inventory and some of the highest profit margins of any business on earth. For long-term investors, the payments duopoly has been among the most reliable wealth-compounding pairs in the market for twenty years running.

Alcon. The Swiss medical company is the world's largest dedicated eye care business, making contact lenses, surgical equipment, and treatments for cataracts and dry eye disease. As the American population ages, demand for those products grows automatically. It is one of the most straightforward demographic tailwinds in healthcare — and it does not depend on which direction interest rates move or what Washington does next.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). ICE owns and operates critical financial infrastructure, including the New York Stock Exchange. It also holds significant exposure to mortgage data and technology. These are businesses that collect fees on transactions that keep happening regardless of which direction the stock market moves — the kind of steady, essential infrastructure that holds its value in all kinds of economic weather.

S&P Global. The company behind the S&P 500 index, credit ratings, and financial analytics generates fees from some of the most inescapable functions in global finance. Companies that need credit ratings must come to S&P. Funds that track the S&P 500 pay licensing fees. It is a business that earns money because the financial system requires it. Shares climbed 1.1% on the announcement of Ackman's position.

The new positions sit alongside an existing portfolio that already includes Microsoft, Uber, Meta, and Amazon. Together, the full lineup now touches digital payments, cloud computing, social media, streaming, financial data, healthcare, and housing — a concentrated bet on the durability of American enterprise across nearly every sector of the economy.

Ackman's explanation for the move is direct. He and his team noted that a market fixated on artificial intelligence had created opportunities in companies outside the technology spotlight — businesses whose earnings are "poised for strong growth" and whose value will compound steadily over time. He has always described earnings growth as "the greatest driver of investment value," and every company on this list fits that framework.

Pershing Square's funds have trailed the broader market in the first seven months of 2026, but seven months means little for a manager with a 22-year record of outperformance. In 2020, after a stretch of criticism and underperformance, Pershing Square posted one of its best years ever — including a $2.6 billion profit from early pandemic hedges that became a case study in disciplined risk management.

For retirees watching where serious, long-term money is moving, the picture here is straightforward. One of America's most consistently successful investors just sold a major holding and reinvested it entirely into cash-generating American businesses — companies with proven competitive advantages, loyal customer bases, and the kind of earnings power that holds up across economic cycles. Visa and Mastercard. Netflix. S&P Global. Businesses built to compound quietly for years, chosen by a man who has been beating the market at it for more than two decades.