Bill Ackman says his $60M bet on distressed mall company GGP, bought at 34 cents, is his best investment ever, returning over 9,000%.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman called his $60 million investment in struggling mall operator General Growth Properties his "best investment ever," citing a return of over 9,000%. In 2008, during the financial crisis, he bought a 25% stake when GGP’s stock was trading at 34 cents per share, despite $27 billion in debt and $15 billion in near-term obligations. Ackman believed the company’s high-quality, well-occupied malls were fundamentally sound. He joined the board to help restructure the company, which eventually saw its stock rise to $31 per share. He emphasized that investing in distressed companies can be highly rewarding when core assets remain strong, sharing a story of a cab driver who turned a $50,000 investment into $3 million based on his CNBC recommendation.