THE “death blow” that Bill Ackman promised to land on Herbalife this week raised expectations of a dramatic ending to one of the most remarkable battles in the history of Wall Street. On July 22nd the billionaire boss of Pershing Square, a hedge fund, delivered a three-hour presentation that he said would kill off the seller of nutritional shakes and foods by showing it to be a criminal enterprise that preys on the poor. But as he spoke, Herbalife shares ticked steadily higher. The low-point for Mr Ackman—whose fund has reportedly made a $1 billion “short” bet on the company’s share price falling, was when his father asked how close he was to proving that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. He replied, wearily, “Dad, if you don’t know it by now...”Appearing before an audience of nearly 500, plus 10,000 or so viewers online, Mr Ackman, at times tearful, attacked targets ranging from Carl Icahn, a rival billionaire so bullish on Herbalife he has put five directors on its board, to David Beckham and Lionel Messi, two footballers whose shirts have borne the firm’s name, Madeleine Albright, a former secretary of state who also champions it, and PwC, its...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1tFTbBf
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