Herbalife Registers ’The Real Bill Ackman’ Website Name

Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), the nutrition company that hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman has called a pyramid scheme, has registered several domain names that include the activist investor’s name.

Domain names such as therealbillackman.com and billackman.net were acquired by Herbalife as of Jan. 18, according to www.domainsearch.com. The websites are blank.

Herbalife has been battling accusations from Ackman, founder of New York hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP, that it uses inflated pricing, misleading sales information and a complicated incentive structure to hide a pyramid scheme. The company this month held an investor meeting to defend its direct-selling model and said Ackman had grossly mischaracterized its business.

Ackman quickly took issue with the Herbalife domain names.

“What legitimate company would do something like that,” he said yesterday in a telephone interview. “The spotlight is on Herbalife and they are doing everything they can do to turn it away.”

Ackman has his own website: factsaboutherbalife.com.

Barbara Henderson, a spokeswoman for Herbalife, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The debate over Herbalife has also sparked rare public disputes among high-profile investors. Last week, Ackman and investor Carl Icahn sparred on CNBC about the company and past dealings with each other. Icahn later said on Bloomberg Television that he didn’t “like” or “respect” Ackman.

Loeb Bet

Ackman’s shorting of Herbalife was countered by fellow hedge-fund manager Daniel Loeb. On Jan. 9, three weeks after Ackman disclosed his bet against Herbalife, Loeb’s Third Point LLC disclosed that its hedge funds held 8.9 million shares of Herbalife at year-end.

Herbalife’s shares have rebounded since Ackman first made his comments. They fell 3.4 percent to $38.67 yesterday in New York, up from a low of $26.06 after Ackman’s presentation.

Ackman said last month that Pershing Square is short more than 20 million shares, which was about 97 percent of the 20.7 million short interest shares outstanding at the time. .

To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at mtownsend9@bloomberg.net; Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta at dstanford2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at rajello@bloomberg.net

16:56

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Carl Icahn talks about the performance of Netflix Inc. and CVR Energy Inc., and hedge-fund manager William Ackman's $1 billion bet that shares of Herbalife Ltd. would decline. Icahn speaks with Trish Regan on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

14:05

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- William Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, talks about weight-loss supplement company Herbalife Ltd., his short position on the stock and his claim that the company is a pyramid scheme. Ackman speaks with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves." (Source: Bloomberg)