Apr 10, 2026
If you thought Taylor Swift couldn’t get bigger, Bill Ackman thinks otherwise. The billionaire “activist investor” is notorious for securing a major position in underperforming companies and gutting them in the name of growth. His firm, Pershing Square Capital Management (LSE:PSH), has offered a takeover bid of $64 million to secure a leading stake in Universal Music Group (NYSE:UMG).
“UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction,” Ackman said in a press release (1).
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Universal Music Group represents T-Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Bob Dylan, and Ackman’s into “super durable companies” (2) that generate royalties forever.
The proposed deal would see Universal merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, an SEC-approved acquisition company. This would move the listing from the London Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange, where shareholders will receive $5.92 per share (3), plus 0.77 shares (3) of the new company’s stock for every Universal Music Group share they own.
“Since UMG’s listing, Sir Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” Ackman said.
In 2021, Ackman said music was no longer a hit-driven business. It’s more focused on subscriber growth (4), with Universal getting royalties on subscriptions. He plans to “unlock value” that’s been untapped, citing streaming penetration and monetizing music IP against AI threats.
As of April 8, Universal Music Group stock is trading at $22.30 (5).
Shake it off
Ackman’s take is that the market is undervaluing a music stock. There’s a disconnect between the music catalogue valuations and Universal Music Group.
Universal’s earnings were $1.46 million (6) in 2025, which was an increase of 5.7% compared to 2024, or 8.7% in constant currency, driven by improvements in recorded music and music publishing. Yet it was down 23% year to date (7) as of April 6.
Pershing Square cited various reasons (1) for the stock price, including the postponement of a U.S. listing, underutilization of the balance sheet and the absence of a publicly disclosed allocation plan and earnings algorithm.
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Additionally, suboptimal shareholder relations, lack of investor credit in the valuation for the Spotify stake and uncertainty about the 18% owned by Bolloré Group, the largest shareholder of Universal, have hampered growth.
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Who’s afraid of little old me?
While Ackman’s position remains in question, the news does serve as fodder for business talks on the golf course.
It’s a good moment to pause and explore this in adjacent industries, especially legacy industries in transition, such as music and entertainment.
You don’t need to own a piece of Universal for this to matter. AI is affecting the financial markets in more ways than stock prices. You can see where innovation might be evolving and how that informs your investments.
This innovation also serves as a cultural counterpoint to the current and growing trend of major musicians and legacy artists, surprising generations of fans by putting their catalogues up for sale.
As for Ackman, this isn’t the first time a big-name investor has tried his hand at buying a company so integrated into the cultural zeitgeist. These are usually the most “Enchanted” deals to watch.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Business Wire (1); YouTube (2); ABC News (3); YouTube (4); Euronext (5); Universal Music Group (6); The Ankler (7)
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Amanda Smith is an Australian freelance journalist and writer based in the New York City area who reports on culture/society, technology, and health.
