Buying Herbalife Stock Is the Way Hedge Funders Say 'I Hate You'

REUTERS/Chip East
Dashiell Bennett 2,300 Views Feb 15, 2013

Investing giant Carl Icahn is still fighting his war of words against hedge fund rival Bill Ackman, but he swears it's not about personal feelings—it's about making money. Hurting Ackman's feelings in the process is just a nice bonus.

Despite saying he would never show up on Scott Wapner's CNBC show again, earlier today Icahn returned to the scene of last month's verbal showdown that delighted the financial press for a whole afternoon. To recap: Ackman called the health supplement company Herbalife "a pyramid scheme." Icahn called Ackman a crybaby and a "loser" and defended the company, but wouldn't say whether he had a financial stake in it. Well, earlier today he finally admitted the he has indeed taken a long position in Herbalife, and may invest even more money. (The stock took a big jump on the news.)

Ichan called into CNBC again to defend his move and insist that he's not just trying to hurt Ackman (though he helpfully reminded everyone that he still doesn't like him). He claims he honestly believes that Herbalife is a good company and wants it to succeed. And if that happens, and Ackman's short-selling position implodes and he loses his shirt.... well, that's okay too.

If Ackman gets squeezed I'm not going to feel sorry..." Icahn said, adding, "The fact that I don't like Ackman you could say is the strawberry on top of the ice cream."

We're not sure why Icahn puts strawberries on his ice cream and not cherries, but when you're worth $15 billion and can destroy other hedge fund rivals just for sport, you can put whatever you want on your sundaes.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dbennett at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

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