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Markey, the hedge fund, and Herbalife: Oh, there’s a scheme here, all right

Markey

RE “PROBE that Markey sought gets OK: As controversy swirls, FTC to scrutinize Herbalife” (Page A1, March 13): How can Senator Edward Markey say with a straight face that he didn’t know that hedge fund executive William Ackman would benefit hugely from vitamin company Herbalife’s downfall?

First, Markey sits on two Senate committees focused on business and commerce, so how could he have missed one of the biggest Wall Street stories over the past 15 months, during which Ackman has mounted a well-reported campaign to win his “short” bet by driving down the value of Herbalife’s stock? That ignorance would represent an even larger malpractice on the senator’s part than being swayed by Ackman and his lobbyist minions.

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And why would Ackman and his lobbyists approach the senator in the first place to pursue an investigation of Herbalife as a pyramid scheme? Certainly not for the common good. You don’t make billions of dollars doing that.

I do not own Herbalife, I usually root for crusaders against financial malfeasance, and I voted for Markey in the recent election. But this case suggests that there are more financial schemes out there than pyramid schemes.

Rather than advancing Ackman’s wolf-of-Wall-Street machinations, Markey’s efforts would be better spent on changing the way hedge fund managers such as Ackman escape their rightful share of taxes.

Ronald Schachter
Newton