Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman do not run a company together, share a fund, or hold any publicly known deal. One brand ties their names together: Nike. Woods was its most valuable golf face for 27 years. Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square, bought Nike stock on two separate occasions and sold out both times, the second time at a heavy loss.
This guide keeps documented facts apart from rumour, and it puts a date on every number. That matters here, because plenty of older pages still call Ackman a current Nike investor, and most skip the biggest Woods story of 2026.
The short answer
- Relationship: Indirect, through Nike only. No partnership, joint investment, or confirmed friendship has been reported.
- Woods and Nike: Sponsored athlete from 1996 until January 2024.
- Ackman and Nike: A brief, profitable stake from late 2017 to March 2018, then a much larger one from spring 2024 to November 2025 that lost roughly 30%.
- Ackman today: Ackman today: Pershing Square’s Q2 2026 13F filing (filed August 14, 2026) lists 14 positions, and Nike is not among them.
- Woods today: No stroke-play tournament since the 2024 Open Championship. He has said he will be at the Hero World Challenge (December 3–6), an event he hosts.
Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman at a glance
| Tiger Woods | Bill Ackman | |
| Born | December 30, 1975 | May 11, 1966 |
| Age (November 2026) | 50 | 60 |
| Known for | 15 major titles, 82 PGA Tour wins | Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a concentrated and often activist investor |
| Other roles | Hero World Challenge host, TGL’s Jupiter Links, Sun Day Red apparel with TaylorMade | Executive chairman of Howard Hughes Holdings since May 2025 (chairman from 2010 to 2024) |
| Net worth estimate | About $1.5 billion (Forbes, 2026) | $9.2 billion (Forbes, 2025) |
| Nike link | Athlete, 1996–2024 | Investor, 2017–18 and 2024–25 |
Net worth figures are estimates, not audited numbers, and they move often. No newer Forbes figure for Ackman was verified for this update.
Where Tiger Woods stands in November 2026
Woods has not played a stroke-play event since he missed the cut at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. Injuries explain much of the gap: he ruptured his Achilles in March 2025, which wiped out that season, and he had disc-replacement back surgery that October.
2026 was supposed to be the comeback year. On March 24 he played in the TGL finals for Jupiter Links, his first competitive golf in any format since July 2024. Three days later, on March 27, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI after a rollover crash near his Florida home. The sheriff’s office said he was not injured. Less than a week before the Masters, Woods announced he would step away from golf indefinitely to seek treatment outside the United States. In September 2026, he resolved the legal case by entering a no-contest plea to a reduced charge, receiving a five-year driver’s license suspension.
December is the next real test. On November 10, Woods told SiriusXM he was feeling better and would be at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Since he hosts the event, that is not the same as a confirmed tee time, and his name was missing from the initial player field released on October 19, which left three open slots. As a past champion he remains eligible for the 2027 Masters, and his Open win covers a place at St Andrews in 2027.
Tiger Woods and Nike: a 27-year run
Woods turned professional in 1996 and signed with Nike the same year, in a deal widely reported at around $40 million over five years. The sponsorship grew into one of the best-known in sport. Forbes noted in 2022 that less than a tenth of his net worth came from prize money, which shows how much of his wealth ran through brand partnerships.
| Date | Event |
| 1996 | Woods turns pro and signs with Nike |
| 2016 | Nike stops making golf clubs, balls and bags; shoes and apparel continue |
| 2017 | Woods moves to TaylorMade clubs |
| January 2024 | Woods and Nike part ways after 27 years |
| February–May 2024 | Sun Day Red is announced with TaylorMade, then launches on May 1 |
Neither side gave a detailed reason for the split. Talk of money disputes or personal friction has never been confirmed by Woods, Nike or any named source, so treat it as speculation.
Bill Ackman and Nike: two separate trades
Many articles blur Ackman’s Nike history into one story. It was two trades, years apart, with very different outcomes. The table below follows the filings and press reports quarter by quarter.
| Period | What the records show | Outcome |
| Oct 2017 – Mar 2018 | Passive stake bought around 52–53 a share; about 5.8 million shares held at the end of 2017; sold near $66 | About $100 million profit, reported |
| Q2 2024 (June 30) | About 3.04 million shares worth roughly $229 million, about 0.19% of Nike; disclosed August 14 | Starter position |
| Q3 2024 (Sept 30) | Raised by about 440% to roughly 16.3 million shares, worth about $1.4 billion | Grew into a major holding |
| Q4 2024 (Dec 31) | Added about 2.49 million shares to reach 18.77 million, valued near $1.42 billion, around 11% of the 13F portfolio | Largest reported share position |
| Q1 2025 | 13F trackers show the shares gone; Pershing says it swapped them for deep in-the-money call options | Exposure continued through options |
| November 2025 | Remaining options sold | About 30% cumulative loss, more than $600 million |
The 2017–18 trade was quick and quiet. Pershing Square called it a rare passive stake, so there was no push for changes at Nike.
The second trade was bigger, and it did not go well. Pershing’s investor call put the cumulative loss at about 30% and above $600 million, while the S&P 500 gained roughly 33% over the same stretch, according to Institutional Investor. Those figures were given on the call by Pershing analyst Anthony Massaro.
Why options instead of shares?
A deep in-the-money call behaves much like owning the stock but ties up far less cash. Pershing’s own annual report argued that if Nike’s turnaround worked, the options should return more than double what the shares would. The same leverage cuts the other way when a turnaround drags on.
A tip for reading 13F trackers
The Q1 2025 filing shows Pershing “selling” every Nike share. Read in isolation, that looks like an exit. In practice the exposure lived on through options until November 2025. A 13F lists long US-listed equity positions, is filed up to 45 days after quarter-end, and leaves out shorts, cash and many other instruments, so it can understate or hide a position.
Nike in 2026: the numbers behind the loss
Nike’s fiscal 2026 ended May 31, 2026. The results explain why Pershing walked away.
| Measure | Result |
| Full-year revenue | $46.4 billion, flat as reported, down 2% in constant currency |
| Fourth-quarter revenue | $11.0 billion, down 1% as reported |
| Wholesale (full year) | Up 6% to $27.5 billion |
| Nike Direct (full year) | Down 6% to $17.7 billion |
| Greater China (Q4) | Down 17% |
| Q4 diluted EPS | $0.72, including a $0.52 benefit from expected recovery of IEEPA tariffs |
| Outlook | Revenue still expected to decline in the first half of fiscal 2027 |
Read the profit line with care. Nike’s release says the quarter’s 890-basis-point gross-margin gain included roughly 900 basis points from the expected tariff recovery, so the underlying change was close to zero. After the June 30 report, XTB Research noted Nike’s shares were down roughly 35% for the year. CEO Elliott Hill has described the turnaround as uneven and slower than hoped, with running and North America doing better than China.
Control is part of the story too. Founder Phil Knight’s family vehicle, Swoosh LLC, holds Class A shares that elect three-quarters of Nike’s board, and Bloomberg reported that Knight and his son Travis own nearly all the voting shares. Ackman also said in 2022 that he was moving to a quieter style with managements. Together, those facts limit how hard an outside investor can push.
Are Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman partners or friends?
No evidence says so. A real partnership leaves a paper trail, and none exists here.
| Claim | Status | Notes |
| Joint company or shared fund | None found | No filing links the two |
| Ackman invested in Woods or his businesses | No evidence | His documented Nike positions were shares, then options |
| Either man announced a partnership | None found | No statement or interview |
| They are friends | Not confirmed | Moving in wealthy circles proves nothing |
Searches pair the two names for three practical reasons: both appear in Nike coverage, readers like to compare athlete fame with investor wealth, and autosuggest feeds on itself. Timing helps the confusion. Woods left Nike in January 2024, and Pershing disclosed its new Nike stake on August 14, about seven months later. The overlap is a matter of calendar, not cause, and nothing published connects Woods’s exit to Ackman’s purchase.
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Ackman’s more direct golf connection: Titleist
If you want a real Ackman golf story, look at Fortune Brands. Pershing Square held about 11% of the company from the second half of 2010. In December 2010 Fortune approved a plan to sell or spin off Acushnet, the owner of Titleist and FootJoy. In May 2011 it agreed to sell Acushnet to a group led by Fila Korea and Mirae Asset Private Equity for roughly $1.2 billion, and the sale closed that year.
How to check claims like this yourself
| If the claim is about | Best place to verify |
| Ackman’s holdings | SEC EDGAR 13F-HR filings for Pershing Square Capital Management (CIK 0001336528) and the firm’s quarterly investor calls |
| Nike’s results | Nike investor-relations earnings releases |
| Woods’s playing status | PGA Tour and Hero World Challenge announcements, plus Woods’s own posts |
| Net worth | Forbes and Bloomberg, treated as estimates |
Third-party trackers are handy but secondary. Confirm any number you plan to publish against the filing itself. A claim with no date and no source is a rumour until proven otherwise.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
| 1996 | Woods turns pro and signs with Nike |
| 2010–2011 | Ackman’s Fortune Brands stake; Acushnet sold to Fila Korea and Mirae |
| Oct 2017 – Mar 2018 | Ackman’s first Nike stake, about $100 million gain |
| January 2024 | Woods and Nike end their deal after 27 years |
| August 14, 2024 | Pershing Square discloses its new Nike stake |
| Q4 2024 | Nike stake reaches its largest reported size, 18.77 million shares (about $1.42 billion) |
| Q1 2025 | Shares swapped for deep in-the-money calls |
| March–October 2025 | Woods ruptures his Achilles, then has back surgery |
| November 2025 | Pershing sells its remaining Nike options at a loss |
| March 24–27, 2026 | Woods plays TGL finals, then is arrested on suspicion of DUI |
| May 15, 2026 | Pershing’s Q1 2026 13F lists no Nike |
| June 30, 2026 | Nike reports fiscal 2026 results and cautious guidance |
| November 10, 2026 | Woods says he will be at the Hero World Challenge |
Frequently asked questions
Are Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman business partners?
No. No filing, statement or deal links them. Nike is the only shared thread.
Does Bill Ackman still own Nike stock?
Pershing Square sold its remaining Nike options in November 2025, and its Q1 2026 13F, filed May 15, 2026, lists no Nike. Check the newest 13F on SEC EDGAR for any change.
Why did Tiger Woods leave Nike?
Neither side gave a detailed reason when the 27-year partnership ended in January 2024. Reports of disputes are unconfirmed.
Are Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman friends?
No reliable source confirms a friendship, so treat the claim as unverified.
Is Tiger Woods playing in 2026?
He has not played a stroke-play tournament since July 2024. He has said he will be at the Hero World Challenge on December 3–6, but as host, and a playing commitment was not confirmed as of November 13, 2026.
How much are Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman worth?
Forbes estimated Woods at about $1.5 billion in 2026 and Ackman at $9.2 billion in 2025. Both are estimates and change over time.
Bottom line
Nike links Tiger Woods and Bill Ackman, and that is all that does. Woods gave the brand its golf identity for 27 years. Ackman treated it as a turnaround bet, made money on a short 2018 trade, then lost money on a bigger one that ended in November 2025. No evidence shows a partnership, a direct investment or a friendship.
Fact-check note: Figures were checked against press releases, news reports and trackers of SEC filings on November 13, 2026. This article is general information, not investment advice.
Sources
- Institutional Investor: Ackman exits Chipotle and Nike
- Barron’s (Dow Jones), Nov 15, 2024: Ackman loads up on Nike and Brookfield
- GuruFocus: Ackman’s Q4 2024 13F
- Reuters via Investing.com: Pershing Square’s new Nike and Brookfield stakes
- Bloomberg via BNN: Nike rises after Pershing Square discloses stake
- CNBC: Ackman’s quick $100 million Nike profit (2018)
- Business Insider: Ackman cashes out of Nike (2018)
- Barchart: Ackman’s Nike option conversion
- Insiderset: Pershing Square 13F activity
- Trading Tools: Pershing Square Q1 2026 13F
- Nike: Fiscal 2026 Q4 and full-year results
- SGI Europe: Nike beats estimates, tariff refund masks pressure
- XTB Research: Nike slides after earnings
- ESPN (2015): Phil Knight steps down, Swoosh LLC created
- GuruFocus: Ackman and Fortune Brands
- Howard Hughes Holdings: Pershing Square investment and Ackman as executive chairman
- PGA Tour: Woods to play TGL finals
- AP via WLRN: Woods arrested at crash scene
- AP via PBS: Rollover crash and Achilles background
- CBS Sports: Woods “feeling better”
- GolfMagic: Woods on the December event
- Sky Sports: Hero World Challenge initial field
- Yahoo Sports: Woods’s comeback decision
- New Straits Times (AFP): Woods’s October surgery
- Men’s Journal via AOL: Woods’s 2026 Forbes net worth
- Field Level Media: Forbes on Woods (2022)
- Outlook Business: Ackman’s 2025 net worth
