He stands to profit if the share price plunges in response-and it frequently does.Īctivist shorts see themselves as fraud busters.
#GAMESTOP WAITINGLIST TV#
In tweets and TV appearances, he announces that his hedge fund, Muddy Waters Capital, has taken a short position in a particular stock, and he simultaneously publishes a research report about the company online, often alleging deception or outright fraud. They try to make it happen.Ībout five times a year, Block unveils his latest campaign. After activist shorts conclude that a company is headed for peril, they don’t quietly wait for the share price to fall. He is what’s known as an activist short seller, a newer and more aggressive variant. And in Block’s case, he can single-handedly tilt the odds in his favor. While most investors root for every uptick in the market, a short seller cuts the other way, making his profits when everyone else is failing. He’s a short seller: a stock-market investor who looks for troubled companies and places bets against their share price. Brisard did not respond to a request for comment.)Ĭarson Block lives for showdowns like this. (The company has disputed Block’s reports and denied any role in the episode at the Pierre.
The man was soon identified as Jean-Charles Brisard, a prominent corporate-security-and-intelligence consultant who had, in fact, regularly performed work for Groupe Casino, according to reporting by the actual Wall Street Journal. Then he ran for the door, managing to evade Block’s security team. He looked around the room and flashed an awkward smile that quickly fell from his face. Block believed that Groupe Casino had sent this man on a spying mission to suss out his next moves.Ĭonfronted on camera, the man denied it.
#GAMESTOP WAITINGLIST SERIES#
Beginning in 2015, Block’s hedge fund had published a series of highly critical research reports about Groupe Casino, an international retailer based in France. But Block had already made an approach to the real Horobin, who has an English accent, and learned that he hadn’t sent those emails.īased on the impostor’s inquiries, Block had a strong suspicion about why he was there. View Moreįor more than a year, the mystery man, who spoke with a French accent, had presented himself in emails as a Paris-based reporter at The Wall Street Journal named William Horobin. Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
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