In 1945, whilst most, contemporary mainstream commentators were unable to look beyond the ends of their noses, with a perfect sense of irony, Eric Arthur Blair a.k.a. 'George Orwell' (1903-1950) presented fact as fiction in an insightful 'fairy story' entitled, 'Animal Farm.' He revealed that totalitarianism is merely the oppressors' fiction mistaken for fact by the oppressed. In the same universal allegory, Orwell described how, at a time of vulnerability, almost any people's dream of a future, secure, Utopian existence can be hung over the entrance to a totalitarian deception. Indeed, the words that are always banished by totalitarian deceivers are, 'totalitarian' and 'deception.' Sadly, when it comes to examining the same enduring phenomenon, albeit with an ephemeral 'Capitalist' label, most contemporary, mainstream commentators have again been unable to look further than the ends of their noses. However, if they followed Orwell's example, and did some serious thinking, this is the reality-inverting nightmare they would find.
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Anyone who has been following the 'Herbalife' Wall Street saga since December 2012, will be familiar with the names of its two leading characters: Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn. However, a third name has now reappeared - that of Dan Loeb.
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| Bill Ackman (estimated net worth: $1.2 billion).
Bill Ackman is the founder and boss of hedge fund firm, Pershing Square Capital. In December 2012, he revealed a massive short position in 'Herbalife,' whilst explaining in great detail that the company has fronted an unregulated pyramid scheme which has damaged countless vulnerable persons (particularly, in America's Hispanic community). As a result, the articificially-inflated market value of effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares immediately began to deflate. Without any attempt to refute Ackman's evidence-based analysis, Wall Street rivals, Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn, then stepped in and challenged Ackman, with Loeb revealing a long position in 'Herbalife,' and Icahn questioning Ackman's investment skills on a CNBC programme. As a result of Loeb and Icahn's attempts to ridicule Bill Ackman's openly-declared motivation to be a desire to protect the public, combined with the failure of US regulators to take immediate action in defence of the public, the market value of effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares began to re-inflate.
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| Carl Icahn
Net worth: $20 billion. Carl Icahn is the majority shareholder of 'Icahn Enterprises' (a holding company). During 2013, he began acquiring a significant position in effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares after personally attacking Bill Ackman on CNBC. He then triumphantly boasted that he'd made quarter of a billion dollars out of 'Herbalife's' re-inflation (July 2013), but he has not yet disclosed if this is a theoretical profit or if he has dumped his effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares. At no stage has Carl Icahn displayed the slightest concern for the victims of the version of the 'MLM income opportunity' lie entitled 'Herbalife.' Indeed, Icahn has openly declared his sole motivation to be a desire to make profits.
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| Dan Loeb
Net worth: $1.5 billion. Dan Loeb is the founder and boss of hedge fund firm 'Third Point.' He made headlines in early 2013, when he revealed that he had acquired a significant stake in 'Herbalife' immediately after Bill Ackman had explained that the company has been the effectively-valueless front for a pyramid scheme, and its articificially-inflated market value had begun to deflate. It was later disclosed that Loeb had, in fact, dumped his effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares for a tidy profit almost immediately. At no stage has Dan Loeb displayed the slightest concern for the victims of the version of the 'MLM income opportunity' lie entitled 'Herbalife.' Indeed, Loeb has openly declared his sole motivation to be a desire to make profits.
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'New HLF product: The Herbalife Enema, administered by Uncle Carl.'
Thus, Dan Loeb is sniggering at Bill Ackman whom he now believes to be shitting himself, because, to date, he and Carl Icahn have got away with helping the highly-profitable 'Herbalife' racket to survive.
In reality, Dan Loeb is no fool. Like Carl Icahn, he must be secretly aware that he has made piles of cash unlawfully by openly investing in and, thus, effectively manipulating the market value of the effectively-valueless, counterfeit corporate front for an ongoing, major, organized crime group.
David Brear (copyright 2013)
If as you claim Loeb and Icahn have manipulated the market to make money, then so has Bill Ackman.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - How can any honest observer with fully-functioning critical, and evaluative, faculties, imagine that two blood-thirsty Wall Street sharks like Messrs. Loeb and Icahn, are so commercially naive, and/or ignorant, as to hold the sincere belief that Bill Ackman doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and that, consequently, 'Herbalife' is an entirely honest enterprise?
DeleteBill Ackman was perfectly entitled to produce information and analysis (already in the public domain) in order to establish 'Herbalife's' true market value of zero dollars. Ackman's company is also perfectly entitled to make profits by shorting effectively-valueless 'Herbalife' shares.
There is no way that Messrs. Loeb and Icahn (and their researchers) do not know that 'Herbalife is the corporate front for a blame-the-victim racket. Obviously, they have lied through their teeth in order to make easy money - whilst at the same time gambling that the current crop of legally-qualified federal regulators still possess neither the moral, nor intellectual, capacity to pose a serious challenge the big 'Multi-Level Marketing income opportunity' lie.
I consider that Bill Ackman has probably made a serious error of judgement by restricting his challenge to the 'Herbalife' version of the big 'MLM income opportunity' lie and insisting that 'Herbalife' should be investigated by trade regulators. I speak from experience, because I once made exactly the same mistakes in the UK when I complained to trade regulators about the 'Amway' racket.
David Brear (copyright 2013)
This is liberal nonsense! Loeb and Ackman haven't lied. They don't have to research Herbalife, because they are only interested in the bottom line. As they pointed out, Ackman's supposed to be an investor. If he wants to protect the public he should get a job as a regulator.
DeleteAnonymous - Without conducting any research, anyone with an ounce of common-sense, can immediately tell that the unoriginal 'Herbalife/MLM income opportunity' fairy story, is far too good to be true.
DeleteAre you seriously disputing that Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn have steadfastly pretended that Bill Ackman doesn't know what the hell he is talking about and that, consequently, the 'Herbalife/MLM income opportunity' fairy story must be 100% true?
Only someone who is completely devoid of morality and common sense, would claim that Messrs. Loeb and Icahn have not lied, and would seek to dismiss my analysis of their sameful roles in attempting to maintain the 'Herbalife' fairy story (in order to make money), as 'liberal nonsense.'
Anonymous - Are you by any chance an attorney?
What you are now actually saying is: Loeb and Icahn's defence is that no Wall Street investor worth his/her salt should waste time considering, let alone researching, whether any legally-registered company is the corporate-front for racketeering.
You are, therefore, saying that it should be of no concern to anyone on Wall Street (including Bill Ackman) what damage belief in the 'Herbalife/MLM income opportunity' fairy story has inflicted on the public, so long as the front-company continues to make money for its share-holders.
David Brear (copyright 2013)
Mr. Brear your Liberal nonsense is saying Herbalife is illegal, when the regulators say MLM is legal.
DeleteAnonymous - Why is it that all apologists for blame-the-victim 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers insist on twisting, and simplifying, my analysis of dissimulated cultic organizations like 'Herbalife?'
DeleteThus, you now steadfastly pretend that I have merely said that 'Herbalife' is illegal, when what I have actually said is:
'Herbalife' (like 'Scientology', 'Amway,', 'Nu Skin', 'Xango', 'Forever Living Products', etc.) comprises a centrally-controlled labyrinth of legally-registered corporate structures pursuing lawful, and/or unlawful, enterprises. However, the corporate officers, and apologists, of these corporate structures have all steadfastly pretended that 'Herbalife' is an entirely-lawful enterprise (offering people the opportunity to start a business) - whilst attempting to ridicule, and/or silence, anyone who challenges this (commercial) fairy story.
In reality, the 'Herbalife' labyrinth has been built to a mystifying pattern, designed to prevent, and/or divert, investigation and isolate its bosses from liability.
'Herbalife' is neither original, nor unique. Consequently, it cannot be fully-understood in isolation. The above criminogenic system was partly identified in the US federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 1970. Unfortunately, to date, all unqualified persons (including trade regulators and investor activists) have had virtually no chance of fully-understanding how the 'Herbalife' racket has functioned, because they have looked at it in isolation and from the reality-inverting point of view that it is a form business (albeit a dodgy business), because it has been registered as a 'business.'
In reality, 'Herbalife' is a fundamentally-unlawful organization that has had nothing whatsoever to do with 'business' (in the traditional sense of the word). Behind their reality-nverting facades, the bosses of all so-called 'MLM income opportunities' have peddled essentially the same comic-book 'Utopian' fiction as fact, but this has been re-written in the jargon of 'business' in order to mirror the spirit of our age.
David Brear (copright 2013)
According to the NY Post, Dan's removed his Enema swipe at Ackman.
ReplyDelete