The fallout stemming from Bill Ackman’s short of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) last month seem to be never-ending, and the argument over the stock among several hedge fund titans just gets nastier and nastier. Earlier this month it became apparent that Herbalife had purchased web domains that may indicate it plans an Internet attack against Ackman.
Today there are reports that more web domains have been snapped up, this time naming the other hedge fund managers who have been involved in the controversy surrounding the stock.
Domain names like “therealdanielloeb.com” and “therealcarlicahn” have now been registered, but Bloomberg reports that unlike the domains referencing Ackman, which were registered by Herbalife, these new domains were registered privately through the site Register.com. Right now there aren’t any websites on these domain names.
The controversy surrounding Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) heated up in December when Ackman called the company a pyramid scheme and said he was shorting the stock. Then this month Carl Icahn jumped into the melee, criticizing Ackman for his short of the stock. We also learned that Dan Loeb’s funds had a large position in the company.
Bloomberg contacted Ackman, Icahn and Loeb for comments on the newly registered domain names. A spokesperson for Ackman said neither he nor his Pershing Square hedge fund had anything to do with those new Internet registrations. Neither Loeb nor Icahn returned Bloomberg’s calls for comments on the new domain name registrations.
On Wednesday Ackman voiced his problem with Herbalife’s purchase of the domain names that referenced his name. “What legitimate company would do something like that?” he asked. However Ackman himself threw the first Internet stone in the battle with Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF). His website is “factsaboutherablife.com,” and it focuses on his reasons for shorting the stock.
