Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) is already dealing with the allegations of running a pyramid scheme, and has once again become the topic of discussion due to its new policy. This time, however, it’s for something that can counter the allegations.
As a part of its strategy to prove the allegations wrong and make its business model more transparent and understandable, Herbalife has come up with a new policy that is expected to be enforced on November 15. According to the reports from New York Post, Herbalife will ban all the websites run by USA distributors and will take their business to a corporate controlled website. The company designed the website goherbalife.com for specifically this purpose.
This website not only helps the company take the distributors’ business into its own hands, but will serve several other purposes as well. Herbalife has recently started to focus on improving its brand image and the use of direct marketing strategies. It is now taking new initiatives for building a strong relationship with the community and giving its consumers a feel of connection with the Herbalife brand.
This is because the website will enable the nutrition-products manufacturer to provide a consistent image of its brands. While earlier each distributor was presenting
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Herbalife Moves To Curb Rogue Sites
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Herbalife, the diet shake seller being probed over pyramid scheme accusations, is making another move to keep regulators at bay.
The Los Angeles company is banning independent web sites run by US distributors and migrating their businesses to a corporate-controlled hub (goherbalife.com).
The change, which goes into effect Nov. 15, is an attempt to exert more control over Herbalife’s sales force and follows some instances in which distributors were accused of making false health claims about the company’s products.
“The web sites are designed to be in compliance with applicable requirements about product claims and they provide a consistent brand image for Herbalife products,” the company said in its advisory, adding the goal is to “promote a level playing field for all members.”
The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into Herbalife after hedge fund activist Bill Ackman lobbied hard for a probe and placed a $1 billion short bet on the company.
Ackman, whose big Herbalife short is now closer to $2 billion, claims the company is a pyramid scheme in which distributors earn more money from recruiting other distributors than by selling products to the end user.
While Herbalife denies the allegations, it has taken steps to address some potential trouble spots, including a
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Is End Of Battle For Herbalife Near?
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Senior executives at Herbalife (HLF) are telling investors it’s all but certain the Federal Trade Commission will not shut down the company at the conclusion of its wide-ranging investigation, though they expect some form of disciplinary action, FOX Business Network has learned.
Since March, the FTC has been investigating whether the nutritional supplement outfit operated as an illegal “pyramid scheme,” meaning its sales were largely derived from attracting people to distribute its product, rather than actual sales to customers. The FTC action follows claims by short seller Bill Ackman, who says the company’s business model violates a host of federal and state laws, and that Herbalife should be shut down by the government.
Despite the increased attention on the company, Herbalife executives have been speaking to attorneys, academics and former FTC officials, and have come to the conclusion that the chances of a shutdown are remote, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, senior executives have been making the rounds with Herbalife’s top investors and explaining while the FTC’s investigation hasn’t concluded, they feel confident the company will avoid a corporate death sentence.
An Herbalife spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter, but would not deny such conversations
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Herbalife Hires Former FTC Commissioner For Compliance Department
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Herbalife Ltd. HLF has hired a former U.S. regulator to lead its compliance team, after the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into the embattled nutritional-supplement company in March.
Pamela Jones Harbour —who worked as an FTC commissioner from 2003 to 2010 and as a prosecutor for the New York State Attorney General’s office for 12 years—has been appointed senior vice president of global member compliance and privacy. She will lead a compliance team across 91 markets in the newly created role, Herbalife said Monday.
Ms. Harbour’s appointment comes as activist investors continue to face off over the company.
Herbalife, which sells weight-loss shakes and fitness supplements, has been pummeled by hedge fund manager William Ackman since December 2012, when he spent more than three hours in a Manhattan auditorium laying out his case for why he thinks the direct marketer is a pyramid scheme whose salespeople rely more on signing up new recruits than selling product. Mr. Ackman has repeatedly called for an FTC investigation into the company, and his firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, has bet about $1 billion that the company’s shares will fall.
The company has repeatedly defended its operations and has won the support of a number of Mr. Ackman’s hedge fund rivals, including Carl
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Herbalife To Tour Asia
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Herbalife, a global nutrition company, has announced the launch of its second Asia-Pacific Wellness Tour, which will see six of its Herbalife Nutrition Advisory Board (NAB) members and experts visit a total of 25 cities in Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Building on the success of the inaugural Asia-Pacific Wellness Tour held in April this year, which recorded an attendance of 22,000 across the region, this October edition of the Tour seeks to further amplify public awareness of the importance of balanced nutrition and healthy lifestyles in an increasingly time-strapped world.
“The trends of rising obesity rates, ageing population and mounting health consciousness are not showing signs of slowing down. With the return of the Asia-Pacific Wellness Tour, Herbalife seeks to highlight the impact of these issues, and impart practical, balanced nutrition tips and positive lifestyle habits to help people live healthier lives in today’s busy world. The visiting NAB members and experts will also conduct training for our Independent Herbalife Members, equipping them with nutrition knowledge to better serve their customers,” said William M. Rahn, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Herbalife Asia Pacific.
According to the World Health Organization
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SEC Sends Accusations Of Herbalife Insider Trading
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
The hedge fund world occasionally crosses a legal line when gleaning information from corporate insiders. Now, a federal investigation into Herbalife and the traders who traffic in the company’s stock reveals that hedge funds themselves produce insider secrets.
Stretching the boundaries of insider trading law, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused two men of possessing confidential information about a hedge fund’s plan to bet against Herbalife. One of the men, Filip Szymik, settled the case; his friend and co-defendant, Jordan Peixoto, did not.
Mr. Szymik’s problems, first detailed in a New York Times article in May, began when he learned that the billionaire William A. Ackman was planning to announce a bearish view of Herbalife, a giant diet supplements company. Mr. Szymik had an unlikely source: his roommate was a junior employee at Mr. Ackman’s hedge fund. The roommate, who did not himself trade in Herbalife, is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The S.E.C. pursued Mr. Szymik, a 29-year-old former collegiate tennis star, even though he did not trade either. Instead, according to the S.E.C., Mr. Szymik shared the insight with another friend, Mr. Peixoto, who placed his own wager against Herbalife. When Mr. Ackman announced a $1 billion bet against Herbalife, a move
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Home Party Companies Are Making Waves In The U.S.
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Helaine Olen, contributing editor at Pacific Standard and author of Pound Foolish talks about how home party companies are making waves, specifically in Silicon Valley:
The invitations began arriving shortly after I moved back to my native New York City in 2012. They all sounded eerily similar. Each offered a chance to spend some fun, quality time in an intimate setting with a few fellow moms—or “the girls”—while some sort of product, usually but not always clothing, was “shared.”
One of them beckoned me to a “trunk show” of jewelry and accessories by the company Stella & Dot, to be held at an Upper West Side brownstone. Another offered “a chance to share girlfriend time, refreshments and shop [sic]” for garments bearing the Ruby Ribbon label, a clothing and undergarment line.
A little Googling confirmed my suspicion: Like Amway and Mary Kay, these newer companies are multi-level marketing programs. Which is to say they offer their salespeople two ways to make money: by selling products directly to friends and neighbors, and—far more efficiently—by selling friends and neighbors on the idea of becoming salespeople themselves, and collecting a commission on their recruits’ earnings.
Suffice it to say, this was not exactly what I expected from a
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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
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Herbalife Plans To Expand It’s Partnership With Youth Soccer Organization
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) proposed a plan to launch a new, healthy-living nutrition program “Fit from the Sidelines” in collaboration with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).
The plan intends to outline, educate, and instruct families about the significance of living an active and healthy life. Last week, the company announced it plans to launch the nutrition program in Canada.
The program extends Herbalife’s six-year partnership with the soccer organization. The partnership with AYSO is another step to target the younger lot of individuals. The leading global nutrition firm has been investing a lot lately in product innovation and relationship-building with the community.
Amid all the havoc created due to allegations put forward surrounding the company’s business model, where Bill Ackman blames the company for practicing pyramid schemes, this partnership indicates that the management is determined to keep growing bigger and is not fretting about any activist investors trying to defame the company.
The new program will be offering physical activities and simple exercises to parents who attend their children’s soccer practices and games. Parents can benefit from the program by learning about new activities and indulging in exercises they can do easily from the sidelines as they attend their children’s games.
Former
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DSA Responds To Avon Withdrawal, Speculation From Politico
by Tina Williams • • 0 Comments
Politico has speculated that the reason for Avon withdrawing from the DSA is due to the Herbalife/Ackman battle:
The cosmetics company Avon has withdrawn from the Direct Selling Association trade group, making some thinly veiled, indirect references to the Herbalife fight unfolding in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
“We believe the association’s agenda in the U.S. is overly focused on the issues of a few specific brands rather than industry-wide challenges,” the company said in a letter to other members explaining its departure. “We believe that the U.S. DSA Code of Ethics requires updating to better reflect the current state of the industry in the U.S. … As the U.S. DSA is currently operating, we do not believe that either of these issues will be addressed.”
The nutritional supplements company Herbalife has been embroiled in a fight with hedge funder and billionaire William Ackman over the company’s business practices. Ackman and his firmPershing Square Capital have made a massive short bet that Herbalife will fail — and have been working regulators to investigate the company’s business practices.
The DSA — of which Herbalife is a major member — has recently embarked on a major public affairs and PR campaign in support of the direct-selling industry. That push happened to coincide with Herbalife’s