By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters). William Ackman, a multi-billionaire investor, has decided to stay behind the scenes and work with management to bring about change.

Ackman, fresh off three consecutive years of double-digit gains and strong returns over the past three years, told investors Tuesday that corporate America knows his identity now. He also said that there’s no need to resort to noisy activist investor tactics.

Ackman said that all of his interactions with companies in the Pershing square Holdings Annual Report were cordial, productive and helpful.

“So, if this quieter approach is usefully called Pershing Square 3.0,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, Ackman put in writing the long-held suspicion of investors that Ackman was once an voluble investor who waged noisy proxy fights. Target (NYSE:), Canadian Pacific (NYSE) Railway and Automatic Data Processing Inc. was changing gears.

Pershing Square recently invested in Netflix (NASDAQ:), and Canadian Pacific. This underscores the current mood. Ackman instantly praised the leaders. His pressure tactics often resulted in CEO changes for companies such as JC Penney, Air Products and Chemicals and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Ackman said that he will never go back to the noisesiest activism again: “Activist Short Selling” like he did with nutrition company. Herbalife (NYSE:).

He stated, “We are permanently retiring from this type of work.”

Ironically, Ackman is trying to avoid the spotlight, while Carl Icahn (the prominent activist with whom he sparred publicly over Herbalife on cable TV) seems to be going the opposite direction.

Kroger Supermarket (NYSE:) Co stated Tuesday that Icahn will nominate two individuals to its board. He also fights for McDonald’s board seats (NYSE:) as well as Southwest Gas (NYSE.:) Holdings.

Ackman also wrote Pershing Square 3.0 to make “our jobs more enjoyable and better, and our quality and enjoyment of life.”

Pershing Square has suffered small losses in 2022 but the company is faring better than the wider stock market, thanks to interest rate protections. This protected the firm from a sudden market decline. These three years have been profitable. Pershing Square Holdings reported a 26.9% return in 2021 after a gain of 70.2% in 2020 and an increase of 58.1% in 2019