Pershing's expedition : Bill Ackman, herbalife, and the ethics of political influence / Brian Feinstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Feinstein, Brian D., author.

Series:

SAGE business cases.

SAGE business cases

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Business and politics--Case studies.

Business and politics.

Business ethics--Case studies.

Business ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

London : SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals, 2026.

Summary:

In late 2012, activist investor Bill Ackman announced that his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, had taken a short position in nutritional products company Herbalife International. Ackman alleged that Herbalife operates an illegal pyramid scheme, in which distributors are compensated largely based on their ability to recruit new distributors and not on their sales of Herbalife products to end users. Pershing Square then embarked on a multi-front political campaign to convince regulators to investigate and sanction the company. That goal, the hedge fund reasoned, would drive Herbalife's stock price down-to the benefit of Pershing Square, given its short position in the company. In response, Herbalife embarked on a series of political countermeasures.This case study challenges students to evaluate the ethics of this corporate political activity. It asks them to consider why corporate actors donate to political candidates and social organizations, how power and informational imbalances between corporate actors, other citizens, and regulators may affect policy, and related questions.

Notes:

Description based on XML content.

ISBN:

979-83-488-3333-6

OCLC:

1569209098

Publisher Number:

T299204