Pershing Square manager Bill Ackman turned a net profit of more than $2 billion on Monday after he sold his bets against the market less than one week after warning CNBC that "hell is coming" and imploring the White House to shut down the country for a month

He then used those proceeds to wager that existing Pershing bets, including hotel operator Hilton Worldwide, would rebound.

Ackman said the fund completed the exit from his bets against the market on March 23 and generated $2.6 billion compared with premiums paid and commissions totaling $27 million. The amount of capital Ackman put behind protecting credit — the actual principal wagered against the market — is unknown.

Still, the Ackman about-face came less than one week after he told CNBC's Scott Wapner in an emotional interview that the United States was in jeopardy unless President Donald Trump closed the country for one month in a sort-of "Spring Break."

"America will end as we know it. I'm sorry to say so, unless we take this option," he told CNBC on March 18, five days before ending his bet against the market. "We need to shut it down now. ... This is the only answer."

ackman tweet

That Ackman added to his Hilton position using the money he earned from his bets against the market is notable, especially given the grim forecast he issued for equity last week. He first announced his hedges against the market on March 3.

"It's going to zero along with every other hotel company in the world. ... Every hotel is going to be shut down in the country. Every one," he said at the time. "Again, I'm a major shareholder. [But] if we allow this to continue the way we allow it to continue, every hotel company in the world is done."

Novogratz tweet: "Please get Ackman off CNBC before people start jumping off bridges. @CNBC"

Though some, like ex-hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz, blamed Ackman for stoking the market's panic, the Pershing Square manager said in his Wednesday letter that the outlook for equities had changed in a material way over five days.