Whitney Tilson Discloses Short Position in Herbalife Ltd.

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Whitney Tilson Discloses Short Position in Herbalife Ltd.

Bill Ackman is not alone in his belief that Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is a pyramid scheme. Hedge fund manager, Whitney Tilson has  announced that he is short Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) as well. He calls Ackman’s 342 page analysis of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) ‘s the most remarkable piece of investment analysis I have ever seen.’ Tilson’s friendship with Ackman goes back several years. He is known to be a found of both Ackman and legendary value investor, David Einhorn. Tilson opened up a short position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR), before Einhorn announced that he was short the stock. Mr. Tilson was a big believer in J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), where Ackman is the largest shareholder. Tilson announced his position via an email sent to us. We do not know when Tilson started shorting Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF). Below is the manager of T2 in his own words:

Pershing Square’s analysis of Herbalife is the most remarkable piece of investment analysis I have ever seen. Simply astonishing. And kudos to Pershing Square for making all of it public – not just the 300+ page slide presentation, but all the supporting materials. For the many young people on this email list who are looking for a job in this industry, study this carefully – if you can do analysis even a tiny fraction this comprehensive, there will always be a job for you…

Hopefully it results in massive reform of this whole sector, which has preyed upon MILLIONS of vulnerable people all over the world for decades. This has been blindingly obvious to anyone who’s done even cursory analysis, but for some reason regulators at the state and local level have done almost nothing to rein in the widespread abuses – it’s just like subprime mortgages and student lending. This is one area in which China is WAY ahead of us: it’s simply outlawed ALL multi-level marketing – a very good idea in my opinion…

Disclosure: I am short a tiny smidge of HLF (good luck getting the borrow) and a number of other multi-level marketers.

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