US federal officials are investigating possible manipulation of Herbalife stock by fund manager Bill Ackman and people working for him in a long-running probe of the dietary supplement maker, a person familiar with the matter said.
US prosecutors in New York and the FBI, in addition to the Federal Trade Commission, have been looking into the company’s marketing practices. Billionaire Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, accused Herbalife of misleading distributors, misrepresenting sales and selling a commodity product at inflated prices. His fund bet $1 billion against Herbalife’s shares.
Herbalife has lost about half its value over the past year, hurt by the FTC investigation. Ackman says Herbalife’s reliance on independent distributors for its nutrition products constitutes an illegal pyramid scheme.
While Herbalife has repeatedly denied the allegation, the probe has added pressure on the business to adopt more conservative sales practices.
The investigation also covers Herbalife’s marketing practices and is ongoing, said the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because it isn’t public.
The FBI is investigating a consultant hired by Pershing and whether they made false statements to regulators, said two people familiar with the matter. Ackman and Pershing Square haven’t been served with a subpoena, one of the people said.
Herbalife’s business can’t survive, Pershing Square said in an e-mailed statement. More than 1,000 US victims have come forward, it claimed.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
