Brooke Sutherland, Columnist

Bill Ackman Gets Back to Basics

The industrial giant is a simpler target and offers the activist investor better odds of success.

February 28, 2018 at 7:37 PM UTC

Brooke Sutherland is Bloomberg News' Boston bureau chief and writes the Industrial Strength Newsletter. She was previously a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies and an M&A reporter for Bloomberg News.

1519847568_220451852 — Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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Bill Ackman is going back to activism basics. It's about time.

The investor told CNBC on Wednesday that his Pershing Square Capital Management has essentially unwound its ill-fated bet against Herbalife Ltd., the seller of vitamin supplements and weight-loss shakes. This has been a long time coming, and is a symbolic gesture of Ackman's commitment to refining his strategy in a way that may actually make investors money. This new-and-improved Ackman is moving on to bigger (but simpler) things -- and they include United Technologies Corp.