Herbalife is close to reaching a settlement with five former distributors who claim the controversial nutritional products company is running a pyramid scheme that has victimized thousands.
Lawyers for both sides told California federal judge Beverly O’Connell last month that “the parties have tentatively agreed on the principal terms of a settlement,” according to court papers.
The parties asked for an extension of several pretrial filing dates, saying they needed more time to finalize a deal.
The suit was brought by California resident Dana Bostick in April 2013, less than four months after hedge fund activist Bill Ackman called Herbalife a fraud and placed a $1 billion short bet on the shares.
In June, four new plaintiffs joined the proposed class-action suit against the Los Angeles company.
Both sides declined to comment on the talks or the amount of the potential settlement under discussion.
Herbalife, which is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and other regulators, has denied the allegations and earlier said the suit had no merit.
But it now appears willing to accept a class-wide settlement to put a cap on its liability, sources told The Post.
The class would cover about 1.5 million people — those who joined in the US after 2009 to the present, excluding

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