Bill Ackman spent five years and $760 million trying to prove Herbalife was a pyramid scheme — and lost.

In December 2012, Ackman held a one-billion-dollar short position and delivered an eight-hour public presentation accusing the company of fraud.

Carl Icahn took the opposite side, buying 25 million shares in January 2014, and turned Ackman's crusade into a $1 billion profit for himself.

The FTC fined Herbalife $200 million in 2017 but never declared it a pyramid scheme — meaning Ackman was arguably right about the damage, and still lost everything on the trade.

🎧 Part of the Sleepy Stock Market series — financial history told as documentary audio.

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SLEEPY STOCK MARKET

Fall asleep to the greatest stories in financial history.

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