Well, all terrible trades must come to an end, and despite the fact that Bill Ackman had previously suggested he would fight the Herbalife battle to the bitter end, it looks like he’s finally thrown in the towel.
“Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital has exited its Herbalife bet five years after his fight with Carl Icahn erupted,” CNBC reports, adding that “Ackman told Scott Wapner on Wednesday that he had unwound the position.”
ANOTHER SCOOP: Ackman unwinds put position in $HLF. He's all but out.
— Scott Wapner (@ScottWapnerCNBC) February 28, 2018
It wasn’t too long ago that Bill converted this bet from an outright short to a put position, presumably to keep himself from getting squeezed. As a reminder, here’s what he told CNBC back in November when he unveiled his “new strategy”:
We’ve been entirely right on our Herbalife investment in terms of the fundamentals of the business. We’ve been wrong on the share price. A big part of that is the fact that companies repurchase a huge amount of shares.
A big part of this is trying to cause a short squeeze. We just did something, which we will announce later this afternoon. What we did recently in the last few weeks is we converted our entire [Herbalife] short position into a put position.
And as a result there is no longer an opportunity to squeeze Pershing Square.
Maybe not, but this has been the bane of Bill’s existence since he announced it to much fanfare back in 2012. Now, he apparently no longer has the gumption to burn premium on this fucker.
Ackman tells me he had been unwinding $HLF put position over the past months….
— Scott Wapner (@ScottWapnerCNBC) February 28, 2018
To be clear, Ackman was always “right” on this. Herbalife is a pyramid scheme and everyone knows it.
The problem is, no one seemed to care. On top of that, Carl Icahn of course took it upon himself to personally fuck Ackman and it’s been downhill ever since.
So it’s not so much that Bill was tilting at windmills. Herbalife should be shut down. But at a certain point, I guess it’s just too painful to do the “right” thing when that “right” thing ends up being so “wrong” for your P/L.
Sorry Bill.
*********
On the bright side, Ackman’s surrender could cause Ichan to pull his money out and leave this awful company to its inevitable demise.
mate are you a failed distributor sounds like it? the company obviously has value to its customers and shareholders 38 yrs proves it Ackman doesnt care its not his money but his credibility just took a big hit !
As a wise man once said, “You don’t want to win an argument. You want to win.”
there is no easy way that is healthy .. portion control and understanding nutrition, balanced well. These type of products seem to entice people who are a bit desperate. Your body needs calories and activities = balance. Wonder how many products over the years have been sold to people hoping for a miracle or an easy way. Spend a few days reading and learning about foods and nutrition; don’t overdo the fast foods! eat a doughnut and walk around the block – don’t eat a doughnut and sit on the couch. Don’t buy BS “easy weight loss” products and please don’t sell them to desperate people.
One more very important thing to know/learn – many herb products do not mix well with medications and some could easily restrict the effectiveness of one of your vital meds – don’t experiment and don’t assume just because the word Herbal is on the product that it is safe. Ask your doctor or your pharmacist. Or you could end up talking to your lawyer.
just saying