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Universal Music Group to Buy Back $290.5M in Stock from Bill Ackman

Universal Music Group will repurchase $290.5 million in stock from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square. This follows the music giant's rejection of Pershing Square's takeover offer.

Variety Music·Jun 4, 2026·via Variety Music

Universal Music Group to Buy Back $290.5M in Stock from Bill Ackman

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Jun 4, 2026 11:46am PT

Bill Ackman to Sell $290.5 Million in Stock Back to Universal Music After Rejected Takeover Offer

By Andrew Flanagan

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Andrew Flanagan

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Fresh off of rejecting a takeover proposal from capital fund Pershing Square , Universal Music has announced it is repurchasing a sizable portion of its stock back from the company founded and operated by billionaire investor Bill Ackman .

The world’s largest record company will repurchase over 14.2 million shares from Pershing, worth about $290.5 million (€250 million), as part of the fund’s complete unwinding of its position in Universal Music. Pershing has 80.6 million shares to unload, per Bloomberg . Universal Music’s stock is down 3.25% today.