The 14 Most Bill Ackman Things Bill Ackman Has Ever Said

Hot on the heels of his latest New York Times profile, in which the outspoken hedge fund titan offers up some of his choicest quotes yet, here's a look back at some of the most memorable Ackmanisms, presented without comment.

1. "I want to have one of the great investment records of all time, why not?" — April 27, 2011

2. “[It's] the Mona Lisa of apartments. I thought it would be fun [to buy a $90M penthouse] so myself and a couple of very good friends bought into this idea that someday, someone will really want it and they’ll let me know.” — October 25, 2014

3. “Let me win? That doesn’t exist in my house. No one lets anyone win. Fight to the death.” — October 25, 2014

4. “What I love about tennis is that I’m better now than I was when I was 20." — April 27, 2011

5. “If your wife asks you whether she looks good in a dress, and every time you tell her she looks beautiful, she won’t believe you, but if you tell her, ‘Well … ,’and then other times, ‘Wow, that’s a really beautiful dress,’...

...then she really appreciates it. And it’s the same thing with friendships and CEOs.” — April 27, 2011

6. On the High Line and the Armory and the work he and his landscape architect wife did on them: “Great brands, but underperforming, so we had to fix them." — April 27, 2011

7. “I was angry at Carl Icahn for many years, as you know,” ~wipes his eye~ "my eye is tearing. It’s not emotion. I have a clogged tear duct.” October 25, 2014 (Ackman, a passionate public speaker, has been known to cry publicly.)

8. On being scooped on a book idea on how to write college essays: "I suffered extreme psychological torture. I said, the next time I have a really good idea, I’m not going to listen just because someone is older than me." — October 25, 2014

9. Transcript from a recent deposition (below) — October 23, 2014

Q. Have you had your deposition taken before?

(Ackman) A. Yes

Q. I imagine a number of times?

A. A number. I love depositions.

Q. Do you recognize Exhibit 19?

A. It was an e-mail that I sent [Valeant CEO] Mike [Pearson].

Q. And you say "I have a good idea."

A. Yes.

Q. Do you recall what you were talking about?

A. I have a lot of good ideas.

10. "Actually, I called him and an assistant picked up, whoever was in the office, and I said, 'Tell Carl I'm calling to forgive him.' True story. She said, 'Oh, I think he'll really like that.'" — July 17, 2014

11. "They’ve never had someone like me prepared to say the truth about [Herbalife]. I’m going to the end of the earth. I had a moral obligation." — March, 2013

12. “David [Einhorn] and I are friendly, but it’s like we were boyfriend and boyfriend, and then one day we were just friends, and now we’re just friendly I have enormous respect for him. I stopped calling him and he stopped calling me." — March, 2013

13. “The single most important thing to me, personally, is the ability to speak my mind. I’m a change-the-world guy, and I know that sounds like bullshit or whatever. You can say I’m self-righteous. You can say that I’m disingenuous." — March, 2013

14. "I have more money than I need. I don’t need to work for a living. I do this because I love what I do." — March, 2013