A key problem is that the Howard Hughes board and the special committee evaluating the proposal may not want to turn the company into an Ackman-led mini Berkshire.

Fast forward half a century, Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager behind Pershing Square Capital Management, is looking to replicate Buffett’s success by creating a “modern-day Berkshire Hathaway.

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square proposed to acquire 10 million newly issued Howard Hughes shares at $90 a share — up from $85 a share.