Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman transferred 10 million Pershing Square shares to the Ackman Oxman Institute, a planned research institute focused on the brain and longevity

Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman transferred 10 million Pershing Square shares to the Ackman Oxman Institute, a planned research institute focused on the brain and longevity

On August 19, Ackman valued the stake at approximately $400 million. A Form 4 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirms that the Ackman Oxman Institute foundation received 10 million shares as a gift on August 17.

Five years ago, Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman began discussing the creation of a brain institute after Oxman’s mother died from Alzheimer’s disease. The Pershing Square Foundation later acquired a largely vacant biotechnology building on West End Avenue, where the AOI campus is expected to be located. The share donation now provides a source of operating funds in addition to the building.

In his post, Ackman wrote that dividends and appreciation in the value of the stake should fund AOI over the long term. He described AOI as a nonprofit institute that will connect research and clinical work with the creation of companies. The Mount Sinai Health System is named as an important partner.

AOI plans to invest in companies developing devices, methods, and drugs. Revenue and royalties from these companies are intended to flow back to the institute.

“...to sharply reduce the time from an idea to development, manufacturing, and helping a patient,” Ackman wrote.

AOI’s stated areas of work include neurosurgery, recovery from brain injury, nutrition, clinical trials, and brain-computer interfaces, which are devices that connect the brain to electronic systems. The list also includes life-extension programs. Under Ackman’s plan, dividends and appreciation in the value of the stake should support the institute’s operations, while revenue from the companies it creates should fund further research and treatment.