The FBI and federal prosecutors are interviewing people related to hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman for potential Herbalife stock manipulation, reports The Wall Street Journal.
They’ve asked for documents related to the stock. Neither Ackman nor his hedge fund, Pershing Square, have been served with a subpoena.
Ackman has been publicly shorting Herbalife since December 2012. He has said that the multilevel-marketing nutrition firm is a pyramid scheme and that his hedge fund, Pershing Square, is shorting its stock to zero.
Here’s The Journal on exactly what investigators are trying to figure out in this case:
Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office and New York field office of the FBI have conducted interviews and sent document requests in recent months in connection with the investigation, which is looking into whether people, including some hired by Mr. Ackman,
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Another Wall Street Principal Shows Support For Herbalife
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Kyle Bass, founder and principal of Hayman Capital Management, says he believes Herbalife is not a ponzi scheme and is a legitimate business model on an interview with CNBC. He even goes as far as saying they’ve had one of their own traders sign up with Herbalife to gain an understanding of the model to make sure it’s legitimate.
Bass became well-known after successfully predicting and benefitting from the subprime mortgage crisis by purchasing credit default swaps on subprime securities issued by various investment banks (similar to shorting the bonds).
Bass has since continued to attract media attention for his prediction of the European sovereign-debt crisis and his expectations regarding the economic future of Japan and Argentina.
Bass reminded CNBC viewers that Ackman originally went long on Pre-Paid Legal stocks (now a privately held company called Legal Shield) and shared his views on it not beign a pyramid scheme, nearly an identical explanation to why he thinks Herbalife is a pyramid scheme and is shorting that stock instead.
How long Ackman will continue to battle the Herbalife stock remains to be seen as he placed a hefty $1 Billion dollar short on the company about a year ago. The Herbalife/Ackman battle has become one of the most talked about