Wednesday, September 4, 2013

We interrupt for a brief Herbalife update

Bill Ackman's huge Herbalife presentation ("Who wants to be a millionaire?") compared Herbalife to other consumer companies that Ackman considered self-evidently legitimate.

One of those companies was Ralcorp as per Slide 305 presented below.



Well William P Stiritz has just filed a 13G disclosing a 5 percent shareholding in Herbalife.

Mr Stiritz would be a good person to make the comparison above because:

WILLIAM P. STIRITZ has served as our [Ralcorp's] chairman of the board of directors and our chief executive officer since February 2012. Mr. Stiritz is a private equity investor and served as the chairman of the board of directors of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. from 1994 until February 2012.
But it is worse than that - Stiritz was appointed CEO of the Ralcorp spin out and cereal company Post Holdings.

And in 2012 he was responsible for buying Premier Nutrition - a maker of - you guessed it - protein shakes.

So here we have it. Bill Ackman thinks this is a pyramid scheme and knowledgeable rich industry insiders are buying huge slabs of stock in their own name.

Be sure to take your seats. Herbalife is turning into a very interesting show.




John
at

9 comments:

  1. Fusion ResearchSeptember 4, 2013 at 4:21 AM

    You really are enjoying this drama Mr. Hempton.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2013 at 4:37 AM

    Herbalife IS a pyramid scheme. (You're too smart for this. Your support of HLF is sickening.)

    But pyramid schemes are very profitable for the owners, and smart people know it. It is good to be long HLF.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert MaeSeptember 4, 2013 at 10:32 AM

    Raise your hand if you're at all intrigued with herbalife.

    *crickets*

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tweety BirdSeptember 4, 2013 at 3:21 PM


    I tawt I taw a GNC pwotein shake sell for $30 on ebay. Onwly $65 retail.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rene PorcileSeptember 5, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    (Bloomberg) -- Timothy Ramey, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, validates HLF as a world leader in sound nutrition and gives a stock price of $92 -- Very informative video http://stks.co/pRC2

    ReplyDelete
  6. Simon BrownSeptember 5, 2013 at 8:03 PM

    I guess Mr Stiritz's millions of dollars worth of investment in a company he clearly sees from an informed position as NOT being an illegal pyramid trumps a 1 minute investment by someone commenting on here to the contrary...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wyrdo the SaneSeptember 10, 2013 at 2:31 AM

    Did you notice, Bronte Capital, that you didn't actually say anything other than "ha ha".

    * You point out that Bill Ackman says that Herbalie is a pyramid scheme.

    * You show a size showing something about relative company size (not legitimacy) that has both Herbalie and Raicorp on it.

    * You say William P. Stiritz would be in a good position to "make the comparison above". But the comparison above, if you meant the slide, was not about legitimacy.

    * You imply, but do not state, that Mr. Stiritz would not buy stock in Herbalie if it were a pyramid scheme.

    Did you ever meet Bernie Madoff?


    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.


    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousNovember 7, 2013 at 7:55 AM

    Herbalife is a great business to get involved with. Definitely love the products! Herbalife Reviews

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wyrdo the SaneNovember 7, 2013 at 11:52 AM

    " Herbalife is a great business to get involved with. Definitely love the products! "
    ... said the next victim in a long line of Herbalife "distributors".

    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.

    ReplyDelete