Did Ackman Campaign Contributions Influence NY AG To Pursue Herbalife?

As hedge fund manager Bill Ackman sunk into a thick steak at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan last June, he looked at the information-hungry hedge fund managers at the table and painted a picture of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) as a company soon to be in trouble with the government. Ackman’s “prophecy” turned correct this winter, when regulators and the New York Attorney General announced regulatory and criminal probes into the firm’s business practices – benefiting Ackman’s $1 billion short position. Bringing about government’s wrath on Herbalife How exactly Ackman was able to engineer such government to focus…