恐将连亏四年，对冲基金大佬退出康宝莱多空大战

眼看旗下对冲基金潘兴广场将连续第四年亏损，投资大佬比尔·阿克曼宣布，退出有关康宝莱的主动投资者多空大战。

五年前，阿克曼首次披露持有10亿美元康宝莱空头头寸，当时他指责康宝莱的业务是金字塔骗局。由此他跟主动投资者卡尔·伊坎对上了阵。当时伊坎是康宝莱最大的股东，阿克曼却想做空这家公司。

然而，康宝莱的股价并未下跌，自阿克曼首次公开做空康宝莱之后还累计大涨95%。2017年11月，阿克曼的举动显示对做空康宝莱信心不足，因为他将理论上可能导致无限损失的康宝莱空仓转为看跌期权。

最近，美国财经媒体CNBC报道，阿克曼已经清空做空康宝莱的仓位。

在此之前，由于阿克曼已退出或尚未获得回报的一系列投资，潘兴广场到2017年已经连续三年录得负回报。例如2017年年初他清仓的制药企业Valeant持股，导致基金投资者亏了数十亿美元。他重仓的美国食品业巨头亿滋国际2017年表现低迷，同年押注的墨西哥风味美国健康连锁快餐企业Chipotle Mexican Grill至今还未有斩获。

自阿克曼披露持股以来，Chipotle Mexican Grill因爆出食品安全危机股价大跌25%。

与此同时，据路透社报道，潘兴广场已裁掉近20%的员工，力争重现往日辉煌。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林

As his hedge fund Pershing Square heads into its fourth straight year in the red, investing titan Bill Ackman is calling it quits on one of the most high-profile activist battles on Wall Street: Herbalife.

Ackman first revealed a $1 billion short position against nutritional supplement firm Herbalife five years prior, dubbing the organization a pyramid scheme. (For more, read “The Siege of Herbalife” by Roger Parloff in the Sept. 15, 2015 issue of Fortune magazine.) That put him on the opposite side of the table from activist investor Carl Icahn, who turned into Herbalife’s largest shareholder even as Ackman mounted a campaign against the company.

But rather than falling, shares of Herbalife have rallied 95% since Ackman first revealed plans to bet against the company. Then in November of 2017, Ackman signaled that he was less confident in his call regarding Herbalife. The billionaire converted the short position, which in theory could lead to infinite losses for Ackman, to put options.

Then on Wednesday, CNBC reported that Ackman had unwound his bet against Herbalife.

That comes after Pershing Squares posted its third straight year of negative returns in 2017 due to a string of bets that Ackman has exited, or have either yet to pay off. Ackman for instance exited its stake in troubled pharmaceutical company Valeant in early 2017, costing his shareholders billions. His largest holding Mondelez languished last year, and Ackman’s bet on Chipotle Mexican Grill meanwhile has yet to pay off.

Since Ackman revealed a stake in the embattled quick-service restaurant, Chipotle shares have shed 25% following the return of its food safety crisis.

At the same time, Pershing Square has reportedly cut almost 20% of staff in a bid to turn the hedge fund back around to its glory days, Reuters reports.