[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/insights\/bill-ackman-finance-and-investing-guide#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/insights\/bill-ackman-finance-and-investing-guide","headline":"Finance and Investing Basics: Bill Ackman\u2019s Guide","name":"Finance and Investing Basics: Bill Ackman\u2019s Guide","description":"\ud83d\udcfa Today’s recommended deep-dive video: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8 The Lemonade Stand MBA: Bill Ackman\u2019s Blueprint for WealthFrom Lemons to Leverage: Building a BusinessGood vs. Bad Businesses & The Risk HierarchyThe Path to Public Markets and ValuationThe Psychology and Strategy of InvestingKey TakeawaysQ&A... ","datePublished":"2026-06-25","dateModified":"2026-06-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/author\/flextech-admin\/#Person","name":"flextech-admin","url":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/author\/flextech-admin\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=150&d=mm&r=gforcedefault=1","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=150&d=mm&r=gforcedefault=1","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"terabox","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/logo\u4ea7\u54c1\u540d-\u7ad6\u7248.png","url":"http:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/logo\u4ea7\u54c1\u540d-\u7ad6\u7248.png","width":900,"height":900}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Finance-and-Investing-Basics-Bill-Ackmans-Guide.jpg","url":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Finance-and-Investing-Basics-Bill-Ackmans-Guide.jpg","height":180,"width":320},"url":"https:\/\/blog.terabox.com\/insights\/bill-ackman-finance-and-investing-guide","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8","name":"William Ackman: Everything You Need to Know About Finance and Investing in Under an Hour | Big Think","description":"Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https:\/\/bigthink.com\/membership\/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc\n\nEverything You Need to Know About Finance and Investing in Under an Hour\nWatch the newest video from Big Think: https:\/\/bigth.ink\/NewVideo\nJoin Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https:\/\/bigth.ink\/Edge\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \nWILLIAM ACKMAN:\n\nWilliam Ackman is founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. Formed in 2003, the hedge-fund has acquired significant shares in companies such as JC Penney, General Growth Properties, Fortune Bands and Kraft Foods. Ackman advocates strategies of \"activist investing,\" the practice of using stock shares in publicly-traded companies to influence management practices in a way that benefits shareholder interests.\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nHi, I'm Bill Ackman.  I'm the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and I'm here today to talk to you about everything you need to know about finance and investing and I'm going to get it done in an hour and you\u2019ll be ready to go.\n\nHow to Start and Grow a Business \n\nSo let\u2019s begin.  We\u2019re going to go into business together.  We\u2019re going to start a company and we\u2019re going to start a lemonade stand and now I don\u2019t have any money today, so I'm going to have to raise money from investors to launch the business.  So how am I going to do that?  Well I'm going to form a corporation.  That is a little filing that you make with the State and you come up with a name for a business.  We\u2019ll call it Bill\u2019s Lemonade Stand and we\u2019re going to raise money from outside investors.  We need a little money to get started, so we\u2019re going to start our business with 1,000 shares of stock.  We just made up that number and we\u2019re going to sell 500 shares more for a $1 each to an investor.  The investor is going to put up $500.  We\u2019re going to put up the name and the idea.  We\u2019re going to have 1,000 shares.  He is going to have 500 shares.  He is going to own a third of the business for his $500. \n\nSo what is our business worth at the start?  Well it\u2019s worth $1,500.  We have $500 in the bank plus $1,000 because I came up with the idea for the company.  Now I'm going to need a little more than $500, so what am I going to do?  I'm going to borrow some money.  I'm going to borrow from a friend and he\u2019s going to lend me $250 and we\u2019re going to pay him 10% interest a year for that loan. \n\nNow why do we borrow money instead of just selling more stock?  Well by borrowing money we keep more of the stock for ourselves, so if the business is successful we\u2019re going to end up with a bigger percentage of the profits. \n\nSo now we\u2019re going to take a look at what the business looks like on a piece of paper.  We\u2019re going to look at something called a balance sheet and a balance sheet tells you where the company stands, what your assets are, what your liabilities are and what your net worth or shareholder equity is.  If you take your assets, in this case we\u2019ve raised $500.  We also have what is called goodwill because we\u2019ve said the business\u2014in exchange for the $500 the person who put up the money only got a third of the business.  The other two-thirds is owned by us for starting the company.  That is $1,000 of goodwill for the business.  We borrowed $250.  We\u2019re going to owe $250.  That is a liability.  So we have $500 in cash from selling stock, $250 from raising debt and we owe a $250 loan and we have a corporation that has, and you\u2019ll see on the chart, shareholders\u2019 equity of $1,500, so that\u2019s our starting point. \n\nNow let\u2019s keep moving.  What do we need to do to start our company?  We need a lemonade stand.  That\u2019s going to cost us about $300.  That is called a fixed asset.  Unlike lemon or sugar or water this is something like a building that you buy and you build it.  It wears out over time, but it\u2019s a fixed asset.  And then you need some inventory.  What do you need to make lemonade?  You need sugar.  You need water.  You need lemons...\n\nRead the full transcript at https:\/\/bigthink.com\/videos\/learn-to-invest-and-start-a-business-in-under-an-hour","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WEDIj9JBTC8\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WEDIj9JBTC8\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WEDIj9JBTC8\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WEDIj9JBTC8\/sddefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2012-11-27T19:42:33+00:00","duration":"PT43M57S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WEDIj9JBTC8","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg","name":"Big Think","description":"Big Think exists to make you smarter, faster. Through conversations with the world\u2019s brightest thinkers, we bring you the ideas shaping the future of science, philosophy, culture, and the human mind. 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