Acman's behavior is not bad because he's shorting Herbalife.
It's bad because after he bought short position, he's using his money and influence to crash Herbalife, by any means necessary, buying fake concern from various "community" groups, trying to influence government officials to start investigation etc.
Metaphorically speaking, he's a corporate terrorist, trying to cause distress in a company in order to profit from it.
And let's be clear: he doesn't care what happens after (potentially temporary) drop in Heralife's stock price.
He's end-game is not fixing Herbalife via some government action, all he needs to make his billions is temporary drop in stock price caused by FUD that an investigation would create.
It's bad because after he bought short position, he's using his money and influence to crash Herbalife, by any means necessary, buying fake concern from various "community" groups, trying to influence government officials to start investigation etc.
Metaphorically speaking, he's a corporate terrorist, trying to cause distress in a company in order to profit from it.
And let's be clear: he doesn't care what happens after (potentially temporary) drop in Heralife's stock price.
He's end-game is not fixing Herbalife via some government action, all he needs to make his billions is temporary drop in stock price caused by FUD that an investigation would create.