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Comment by Analemma_ | Hacker News Reader

While it feels icky to root for a billionaire hedge fund manager who probably couldn't care less if I lived or died, I was kind of pulling for Ackman. Herbalife is a complete scam, and in a sane universe they wouldn't have any valuation at all. But no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Sigh.

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It goes way beyond the American public, they're global - in at least 95 countries. I guess that's how they're managing to keep the scheme going as long as they have.

Really does seem like a strong bet that they will go to zero.

Exactly, I was shocked to see Ackman betting against Herbalife, because I have seen Herbalife craze first hand in India. My office was in M.G Road, Bangalore, a premium spot of Bangalore, and Herbalife had a big distribution center right there (next to our office building). It was always crowded, people coming and going. My then roommate also got into the Herbalife cabal, and got his entire family involved. He claimed that his dad had lost significant weight after regularly having one of their shakes, and left no stone unturned in advertising the product, to the point that some people started avoiding him. But note, he never asked any of us overtly to buy Herbalife products and build a chain of Herbalife-peddling minions. I guess the point is, some people are attracted to the exclusivity factor, they think that wow these products are expensive, so they must be good, and praise about them to others. Some of these praise soaked people get interested enough to check it out, and the iteration continues.

The lifecycle of an MLM company: Utah, then the rest of the US, then the world

Why do you say Utah? Near as I can tell Herbalife came out of California.

Orrin Hatch

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/us/politics/21hatch.html

Orrin Hatch represents the herbal supplement industry, not the MLM industry. Herbalife happens to be in both.

Felt the same way. The documentary Betting On Zero was eye-opening, and I was surprised that he stuck to this bet for so long.

I suppose it isn't really a pyramid scheme in the sense of being unstable. It is perfectly stable at fleecing people who don't know any better.

Interesting I have shares in Pershing Square brought as a discount ploy in my ISA

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