Bill Ackman first heard about Warren Buffett when he was 20. Four years later, he read his first Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, and something clicked. “I was inspired to become an investor,” the hedge fund manager recalled.

Bill Ackman has his sights set on being this generation's Warren Buffett. Though the activist turned long-term investor is hesitant to say he thinks he will be the next Oracle of Omaha. "Warren's an icon,

Billionaire Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square, has spent nearly $1 billion to accumulate shares of one real estate development firm.