"Herbalife is going to have to start operating legitimately, making only truthful claims about how much money its members are likely to make, and it will have to compensate consumers for the losses they have suffered as a result of what we charge are unfair and deceptive practices," FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement. (http://bit.ly/29I0D0a)
The FTC opened a probe into Herbalife in 2014 following allegations by Ackman that the company had a fraudulent business model that he compared to a pyramid scheme, which pays members more for recruiting new members than for selling its products.
At the end of June, about a quarter of Herbalife's outstanding shares were held by short-sellers, according to Thomson Reuters data.