<\/p>\n
Charles F Knight (left), chairman and chief executive officer of Emmerson Electric Co., shows Home Depot Chairman Bernie Marcus one of the new power tools being developed for sale in The Home Depot stores. Emerson Electric Co. and The Home Depot today celebrated a new partnership that will result in a full line of RIDGID power tools being available to professionals, do-it-yourselfers and woodworking enthusiasts. ‘This partnership benefits everyone,’ said Bernard Marcus, chairman of The Home Depot. ‘Emmerson gets a distribution channel for its tools through the world’s leading home-improvment retailer and our customers get a new line of high-quality power tools.’ (PR NewsFoto)<\/p>\n
PR NewsFoto\/HOME DEPOT<\/p>\n
Carson Block, CEO of Muddy Waters Capital, is an activist short seller with a laundry list of corporate takedowns. Now he’s in federal court in Austin being called part of a scheme.<\/p>\n
Courtesy Muddy Waters Capital<\/p>\n
Your power tools want vengeance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd., the Hong Kong-based manufacturer of Ryobi, RIDGID and Milwaukee brand tools, has launched a multilawsuit campaign against short-selling critics it says libeled it and cost it billions in stock value.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
In Austin, its target is Carson Block, an outspoken and often profane activist short seller, and his company Muddy Waters Capital, which manages more than $500 million in assets.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The power tool purveyor said Muddy Waters orchestrated a scheme in 2023 with another short-selling researcher to drive down the price of the company\u2019s stock, reaping millions in profits at its expense.\u00a0<\/p>\n Short sellers profit by betting that a company\u2019s stock price will drop.<\/p>\n Muddy Waters has called the work it does rooting out corporate fraud valuable and says its research has been cited by courts and regulators.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The case, which was back in court Wednesday over questions of conflicts of interest for Techtronic\u2019s attorneys, could test the limits of free speech and profit-driven corporate investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n What is Muddy Waters?<\/p>\n Muddy Waters designated Austin as its primary office in 2021 after operating in cities including San Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n It and other activist short sellers seek out companies they say are overvalued, take out bets against them in so-called short positions, publish their research showing the companies\u2019 alleged faults\u00a0\u2014 then collect on the short positions as stock values fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For Muddy Waters\u00a0\u2014 and short sellers in general\u00a0\u2014 a lawsuit from an angry target company is part of the cost of doing business. It has been sued numerous times.\u00a0<\/p>\n Block and other short sellers argue they are the good guys, privately doing what public regulators aren\u2019t and that they are, in some respects, fraud-busting vigilantes.\u00a0<\/p>\n His company has taken on Chinese TV manufacturers, French retailers and United Arab Emirates-based health care companies, at times accusing them of fraudulently manipulating balance sheets. Delistings from stock exchanges, bankruptcy and collapse have followed some of its reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reputation of the short-selling industry has been increasingly scrutinized by regulators, derided by corporate titans like Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO\u00a0Elon Musk and vilified in popular media through movies like \u201cDumb Money\u201d\u00a0\u2014 a film about the battle over\u00a0GameStop stock that depicts short sellers as bullies trying to kill a viable business.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Block was the subject of a\u00a0Justice Department investigation<\/a> into market manipulation that began in 2021. No charges were filed against him and the investigation has reportedly closed.<\/a> Other short sellers have not fared as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether he is speaking on his podcast, YouTube channel or commenting to Bloomberg, the 49-year-old Block has a large megaphone to push out his opinions and research, one that has vexed companies in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company also contracts with other short sellers who it says produce independent research Muddy Waters can use to sell short and push to its audiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n The case<\/p>\n That is the relationship it has with Victor\u00a0Bonilla. The company\u2019s role as his partner, republisher or just an interested party with a dovetailing interest in exposing corporate malfeasance could determine whether a court says it is liable for the losses Techtronic says it suffered.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n