- Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and his wife just bought a 5% stake in Israel's public stock exchange.
- The stake is worth around $25 million, according to pricing details announced by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
- Ackman and his wife were "among the prominent buyers" in a recent offering, the TASE said.
Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman and his wife, Neri Oxman, purchased a $25 million stake in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The Pershing Square Holdings CEO and his wife bought a 4.9% stake in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, according to a statement issued by the TASE on Wednesday.
The stock-trading platform announced the pricing of a secondary offering of more than 17 million ordinary shares, which is around 18.5% of the stock exchange's total value.
With the secondary offering priced at 20.60 shekels, or around $5.56 per share, that makes Ackman and Oxman's stake in the exchange worth more than $25 million.
"The transaction drew robust interest from investors across Israel, the United States, Europe, and Australia, reflecting a strong vote of confidence in both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israeli economy at large," the TASE said of its secondary offering. Ackman and Oxman were "among the prominent buyers," it added.
Ackman has been a key figure in the US political dialogue over the Israel-Hamas war. The billionaire investor has been a strong critic of how American colleges have handled rising antisemitism, and recently was among the prominent voices calling for the the removal of several university leaders, including Harvard president Claudine Gay, who resigned earlier this month.
He has described himself as both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine amid the ongoing conflict:
"I am pro-Palestinian. Some might be surprised by this due to my recent advocacy on @X for Israel, but you shouldn't be. I am anti-terrorist, not anti-Palestinian," Ackman said in an October post on X. He added that he had also invested "millions" to aid Palestine's economic development and "peaceful coexistence" with Israel.
Ackman and Oxman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their participation in the offering.
Shares of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange stock shot up shortly after its announcement Wednesday morning, surging around 7% to trade at 2,237 shekels per share. TASE shares have whipsawed in recent months, plunging after Hamas first attacked Israel, but rebounding in recent weeks.