Herbalife Disputes Claims It's a Pyramid Scheme

Hedge fund manager doesn't have nice things to say about company

Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman is short the nutritional-supplement seller Herbalife, according to someone familiar with the matter, and has told people he considers the business to be little more than a "pyramid scheme."

Ackman, founder of the $11 billion hedge-fund company Pershing Square Capital Management, put on the bearish Herbalife position about seven or eight months ago, according to the person familiar with the matter, and has spent about a year researching the company.