Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management speaks about higher education and Harvard University during at the 28th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 6, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images Bill Ackman's long-awaited push into public markets is set to debut Wednesday, marking a scaled-back but still ambitious step toward building a Berkshire Hathaway-like investment platform. The Pershing Square Capital Management founder's combined initial public offering raised $5 billion, pricing at the low end of expectations after marketing a deal that initially targeted between $5 billion and $10 billion. The haul is a far cry from earlier ambitions floated two years ago to raise as much as $25 billion. The transaction creates two separately traded entities on the New York Stock Exchange: closed-end fund Pershing Square USA Ltd., which will trade under the ticker PSUS, and asset manager Pershing Square Inc., listed as PS.…