We earlier discussed Bill Ackman's lengthy interview on Bloomberg TV during which he faced up to the $500 million losses (more now) from his Herbalife position, and that it is "not a trade" for him but "will take it to the ends of the earth." However, it seems his comments that "Herbalife longs are all 80-year-old billionaires" pissed off Carl Icahn enough to warrant his wrath. Icahn called in to Trish Regan and exclaimed, "I fail to understand how Bill Ackman, whom I haven’t spoken to for years, nor do I intend to speak to, would know what I am or am not committed to. I continue to believe Herbalife has a great future, and in my opinion many of the things Ackman says about it are simply the rantings of a sore loser." The stock remains +5% and back near recent record highs.
The original Ackman interview "will take Herbalife short to the ends of the earth...":
ACKMAN HIGHLIGHTS:
-Lost $400-500 million on Herbalife
-Losses are mark-to-market
-'Lots of ways we can be successful' on HLF
-Pershing has met with foreign regulators on HLF
-Herbalife re-audit should have been completed by now
-He doesn't know what FTC is doing on Herbalife
-Re-audit is a short-term catalyst if not done by December
-An Herbalife LBO is more opportunity to go short
-He'll take Herbalife bet 'to the end of the earth'
-Herbalife short 'not a trade for me'
-Skeptical of Icahn's belief in Herbalife long-term
-Puzzled by Bill Stiritz's Herbalife motivations
-Herbalife fits FTC OCT pyramid warning
-He has data on Herbalife distributor earnings
-Seeks third party auditor on Herbalife retail sales
-Herbalife longs are all 80-year old billionaires.
-He is not short JCPenney
-Hopes JCP becomes a very successful company
-He deserves his share of responsibility for JCP
And Trish Regan and Stephanie Ruhle discuss Icahn's tempestuous response:
"I fail to understand how Bill Ackman, whom I haven’t spoken to for years, nor do I intend to speak to, would know what I am or am not committed to. I continue to believe Herbalife has a great future, and in my opinion many of the things Ackman says about it are simply the rantings of a sore loser...
Interestingly there is something that Ackman and I have in common. Ackman complained at an Oxford conference that every time I went on TV and mentioned Herbalife, the stock went up a few points. Well, that's also true of him."
We leave it to the chart as the ultimate arbiter of who is winning (so far)...
[4]