Carson Block Expects More Anti-Short-Seller Rhetoric Under Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Muddy Waters Capital’s Chief Executive Officer Carson Block expects more rhetoric against short sellers during Donald Trump’s administration.

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In an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua, Block said the populist playbooks of Elon Musk and Trump are now aligned, and both have blamed short sellers in the past for declines of Tesla Inc. and Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. shares.

“We’ve already had some rhetoric, we might have some more anti-short seller rhetoric,” he said, while noting that he doesn’t think Trump and Musk believe short sellers are responsible for their company stocks falling.

Block, 47, has built a formidable reputation betting against companies such as Sino-Forest Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 within months of his allegations of asset exaggeration. Back in July, he said that it’s “easy to demonize short sellers” as part of the populist message, despite the increasing market need for them.

On Wednesday, he said he’s shorting the shares of Oakland, California-based cosmetics brand Elf Beauty Inc., alleging that it overstated revenues in recent quarters and that a build-up in the company’s inventory was due to lackluster sales. The company issued a statement Thursday saying Muddy Waters had made “numerous inaccurate statements” and it was confident in its financial results.

Muddy Waters’ Carson Block Says He’s Short Elf Beauty Shares

Muddy Waters has built up at least four new short positions in the past 12 months, according to publicly available statements and research on its website.

Looking ahead, Block said Republican administrations generally tend to be lighter on enforcement, but expressed doubts about whether the next president will roll back a number of regulations.

“It is a question as to who is going to head the SEC,” he said.

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