Billionaire investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square has laid out one of the more provocative big-cap calls of this AI cycle. On the All-In Podcast, he argued that today’s mega-cap incumbents are being treated the way the market treated Warren Buffett’s empire, Berkshire Hathaway, at the peak of the dot-com bubble: as yesterday’s story while capital chases the newest thing.
His holdings make the point. “Today we own Microsoft, we own Meta, we own Amazon,” Ackman said, arguing that AI is becoming so pervasive that nearly every major company will either benefit from it or be disrupted by it. As he put it, “Either directly or indirectly, you’re invested in AI, or it’s a threat.”
The Berkshire-at-the-Dot-Com-Low Parallel
Ackman’s analogy is the spine of the thesis. In 2000, as money flooded into internet names, while Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B | BRK-B Price Prediction) was dismissed as a relic. “Berkshire Hathaway traded at the lowest valuation I think it ever traded at in its history, as people said, okay, that’s all old stuff,” he recalled. His broader observation: “People always bring their eye to the new, new thing. The new, new thing is sort of chips, semiconductors, and energy… What tends to happen is really high-quality things get left behind.”
Berkshire’s B shares traded around $29.34 on March 1, 2000, and closed near $475.37 on June 3, 2026, a gain of roughly +1,520.21% on an adjusted basis. BRK-B is also up about +236.81% over the past 10 years and +62.51% over five. Past performance does not promise the same outcome for a different set of companies in a different era, but the lesson Ackman draws is that buying ignored quality has historically rewarded patient investors.
Why Own Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a central AI player. Its AI business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year in Q3 FY26, with Azure growing 40% and commercial remaining performance obligations of $627 billion. Yet Microsoft is down 11.24% year-to-date through June 3.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) reaches 3.56 billion daily active people across its apps, posted 33.08% revenue growth in Q1 2026, and raised full-year 2026 capex guidance to $125-145 billion. Shares are down 5.54% YTD. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw AWS grow 28%, its fastest in 15 quarters, with advertising surpassing $70 billion TTM.
Ackman pairs the bullish framing with a sober caveat: “This is the greatest era in history to build a business,” with unlimited compute and capital, meaning disruption risk has never been higher. Owning the incumbents is a bet that scale, distribution, and balance-sheet firepower let them absorb AI rather than be flattened by it.
The SaaSpocalypse: Where Ackman Sees Real Risk
Ackman is selective on software, expressing concern about names like Salesforce (NYSE:CRM). His framework is that niche software charging premium prices, which he pegs at “$30,000 a year,” is vulnerable to AI replication. Microsoft’s deeply embedded “$50 a seat” pricing is harder to dislodge.
However, Salesforce’s own Q1 FY27 results show the counter: Agentforce ARR hit $1.2 billion, up 205% YoY, and management announced a $25 billion accelerated buyback. Reddit even crowned the recent rebound the “SaaSpocalypse Reversal.”
The Takeaway
Bill Ackman’s view is that the market’s obsession with the next best thing has left genuine compounders underappreciated. Just as Berkshire Hathaway was viewed as an old-economy company during the dot-com boom before going on to compound wealth for decades, Ackman believes today’s mega-cap leaders could be similarly underappreciated.
The comparison is compelling, but it’s not a perfect parallel. Large, established companies often benefit from their scale, resources, and ability to adapt, yet technological disruption remains a constant risk. Investors considering Ackman’s thesis should weigh both possibilities: today’s leaders could become even stronger in the AI era, or they could face challenges that the market is already anticipating.
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