I agree that the article is disappointingly one-sided. Both sides of this case highlight a lot of things that are going wrong with the country. Corporations are more important than people and if you have money you get to live by a different set of rules.
Bill is smart. He saw that Wendy's had a division that was taking off (Tim Horton). A successful division can bring a lot of money into a company to offset other struggling divisions, and provide fuel for further growth. Bill invested in Wendy's, go them to spin off the division, getting bill a huge win in the IPO, and then he dumped the Wendy's stock.
He is a new breed of corporate raider who wants to take as much money from a company and then bail.
Bribing politicians to try and force a stock to collapse is market manipulation and is illegal. If any of the hedge funds he told about the non-public letter affecting a public company acted on that knowledge then that is insider trading and illegal. Trying to convince other hedge funds to bet against a stock could also be seen as a market manipulation (Since if the other hedge fudges take positions against the price would drop).
If I were to open a betting pool in vegas on what hedge funds were going to be shut down and the partners put in prison, and then bribed the SEC to investigate to make sure I win am I in the wrong? Or am I just a savvy investor?
> Bribing politicians to try and force a stock to collapse is market manipulation and is illegal.
I really don't want to get into a flame war, but can you please explain where you got the impression that politicians were bribed by Ackman? Lobbying != Bribing.
> If I were to open a betting pool in vegas on what hedge funds were going to be shut down and the partners put in prison, and then bribed the SEC to investigate to make sure I win am I in the wrong?
Firstly I'm not really sure whether you are being serious, because the SEC isn't an organization that you can just "BRIBE". I'm not talking about the past but the current day, and nothing remotely suggests that you can bribe the SEC. Believe me with the amount of money at play, bad actors in the SEC would be soon found out. Besides it is more lucrative for lawyers/accountants of the SEC to join the dark side (corporate law & accounting firms) instead of accepting bribes while at the SEC.
You have the right to state / make your complaints to the SEC (with evidence) and it is up to them to investigate whatever they deem investigation worthy.
Also, I feel that that talking about Wendy's or attacking Ackman's profession adds nothing to this discussion. Dumping stock is quite similar to early engineers of a IPO'ed startup cashing out. That is what you (mostly) do when you want to capture the upside of your position; you close it down when the upside is still there.
If any of the hedge funds he told about the non-public letter affecting a public company acted on that knowledge then that is insider trading and illegal.
Insider trading is when a person inside the company releases nonpublic information to people who trade on the basis of that information.
Are you asserting that Ackman is an Herbalife insider?
That is absolutely not true. Any person can be guilty of breaking insider trading rules. In this case, Ackman, the person who shared the information with Ackman, and any of the hedge funds which acted on that information could all be liable.
Bill is smart. He saw that Wendy's had a division that was taking off (Tim Horton). A successful division can bring a lot of money into a company to offset other struggling divisions, and provide fuel for further growth. Bill invested in Wendy's, go them to spin off the division, getting bill a huge win in the IPO, and then he dumped the Wendy's stock.
He is a new breed of corporate raider who wants to take as much money from a company and then bail.
Bribing politicians to try and force a stock to collapse is market manipulation and is illegal. If any of the hedge funds he told about the non-public letter affecting a public company acted on that knowledge then that is insider trading and illegal. Trying to convince other hedge funds to bet against a stock could also be seen as a market manipulation (Since if the other hedge fudges take positions against the price would drop).
If I were to open a betting pool in vegas on what hedge funds were going to be shut down and the partners put in prison, and then bribed the SEC to investigate to make sure I win am I in the wrong? Or am I just a savvy investor?