Carl Icahn just appeared on CNBC's "Halftime Report" with Scott Wapner again even though last month he told the anchor that he's "never going on a show with you again, that's for damn sure." 

Wapner started the segment by asking him why he took such a big long bet? 

"My bet might be longer,"Icahn said, adding, "I buy things that I think are undervalued. I think Herbalife is a very undervalued situation. We have done a hell of a lot of research on this..."

Icahn then proceeded to touched upon Ackman's belief of Herbalife being a pyramid scheme. He said Ackman has been unfair to Herbalife shareholders. 

He then talked about Ackman's statement at the Harbor Investment Conference this week about his law firm Sullivan & Cromwell agreeing with him that it's a pyramid scheme.

"The most interesting thing I thought about that whole conference is Ackman stated his law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, his attorneys...he said Sullivan & Cromwell is comfortable that HLF is a pyramid scheme," Icahn said, adding that he says they have never said that publicly.

Icahn said he likes Herbalife.

Herbalife is at "the center of paradigm shift right now", he said..  He said multi-level marketing is a great way to retail products.

He noted that Herbalife makes a product at the forefront of obesity and that Ackman wanting to put Herbalife out of business "is going to hurt people."

In terms of his investment, Icahn said "Ackman is giving me a great opportunity." He said he thinks the stock is cheap and that it's going to grow. 

He then took a jab at Ackman's mammoth presentation again.

Putting a 300-page paper together "is nothing", Icahn said referring to Ackman's massive presentation he gave at a special Sohn Conference event in December.  He said if you're shorting a stock you should keep it quiet. 

"What is he doing? He goes in he has this, I call it a scheme, what he does is put out a 300-page paper...with no expertise," he says.

Wapner asked him "What's the real purpose? Is it really business or is it personal?" 

"I don't like Ackman. Everybody knows that.  I don't respect him. Everybody knows that." 

"I am not buying this company and putting money into it unless I've done a lot of research.  Forget the fact that I don't like him.  The bigger a short position, the more enticing it is," Icahn says.

He also said that Herbalife is a company that could go private.

"It's a great company to take private. This is the perfect quintessential company to take private." 

Then, Wapner jumped back in to ask him if it's business or personal again.  He pointed out that he really accumulated this position after that CNBC battle they had last month.

"Let me address that.  If you look at my buying pattern you would say it's not personal," Icahn said.  

Wapner asked if he sees "real value" and if this is not an attempt to squeeze the "you know what" out of Ackman.

"If Ackman gets squeezed I'm not going to feel sorry..." Icahn said, adding, "The fact that I don't like Ackman you could say is the strawberry on top of the ice cream."

Wapner wanted to know what happens if regulators come out on the side of Ackman?

Icahn said he doesn't believe the regulators are going to act because someone comes out and says you're not doing your job right. 

He called Ackman's arguments "amateurish" and that they don't have "professional backing." 

"This is not about getting Ackman into a short squeeze. He got himself into that."

"I'm sure he's resolute about Target. I'm sure he's resolute about JCPenney... He's very rigid.  They can make a lot of money, but they sure as hell can lose."

"Look Ackman and I had our dispute.  I don't want to get back into that.  I told you how I felt about that.  This is about making money.  I'm sure it's about making money with him," Icahn said adding that only time will tell.

Wapner asked if there's anything he wanted to say to Ackman.

"In my opinion, Ackman took a shot.  This isn't about are you a bad guy or are you a good guy. He's doing what he does. He's trying to make money. I think he's wrong. He thinks I'm wrong." 

Yesterday, the billionaire investor got back at his rival Bill Ackman when he revealed a huge stake in Herbalife yesterday evening equal to 12.98%, or 14,015,151 shares. 

The stock started falling during Ackman's talk, but it's still up more than 6%.

The SEC filing also suggested that the company could be taken private. 

"The Reporting Persons intend to have discussions with management of the Issuer regarding the business and strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, such as a recapitalization or a going-private transaction," the filing states

Herbalife is the stock that Icahn's decade-long rival Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is shorting.  Ackman, who believes the company is a pyramid scheme, is shorting 20 million shares of Herbalife with a price target of $0. 

Last month, the two hedge fund titans brawled in a telephone interview live on CNBC with Icahn hurling zingers a Ackman calling him a "crybaby in the schoolyard" and Ackman saying Icahn is a "bully" and he doesn't keep his word.

Ackman responded this morning to Icahn's latest move saying that he welcomes his investment in Herbalife and that he continues to believe the company is a pyramid scheme. 

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Bob Chapman, who runs Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Chapman Capital, was on Bloomberg TV moments ago. 

In a telephone interview with Bloomberg TV, Chapman said he completely exited his Herbalife position this morning following the disclosure of Carl Icahn's massive HLF stake equal to 12.98%, or 14,015,151 shares.

He's on the sidelines for now.

He told Bloomberg TV he thinks Ackman will on some level succeed with getting a regulator to look at the company making it seem like he will win, but he thinks Ackman will ultimately fail.

Chapman, who is an activist investor known for sending vitriolic letters to company boards, also said he thinks Ackman is "disingenuous" and his massive short case presentation was like "smoke and mirrors" with the facts.

But what we couldn't help but notice during this segment is Chapman's incredible head shot.  Check it out: 

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Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb has sold part of his long position in the nutrition company Herbalife, a source told CNBC.

Loeb, who runs Third Point, started selling a few weeks ago and has continued to trade around the position, the source said, including this past Friday when shares surged.

Third Point maintains a position in Herbalife, the source said.

Loeb's initial investment placed him squarely against another hedge fund titan, William Ackman, whose billion dollar short bet and fiery battle with Carl Icahn has been the talk of Wall Street ever since the two men brawled on CNBC's "Halftime Report" on Jan. 25.

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The hedge fund war over Herbalife keeps heating up.

Right now, shares of Herbalife are trading back below the pre-Bill Ackman short levels.

Ackman, who runs $12 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, believes the multi-level marketing firm that sells nutrition products is a "pyramid scheme" and he's shorting more than 20 million shares with a price target of $0.

Last Thursday evening, legendary billionaire investor/long time Ackman rival Carl Icahn disclosed a 12.98% stake in Herbalife which includes shares underlying call options.  That news caused the stock to spike more than 18% – way above the pre-Ackman short level. 

The SEC filing also said he intends to have discussions with management "regarding the business and strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, such as a recapitalization or a going-private transaction."

The next day, Icahn appeared on CNBC in a live telephone interview around 12:30 p.m. to talk about his stake.  He told CNBC that he thinks Herbalife is a "very undervalued situation" and that his stake is not a personal vendetta against Ackman, but rather it's about making money. During his appearance, the stock started to slip, but was still up on the day.

The stock ended up closing up 0.47 cents, or 1.23%, at $38.74 per share on Friday. The stock is up slightly in the pre-market today.

Meanwhile, some fund managers on the long side have been selling off their stakes.

Activist investor Bob Chapman, who runs Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Chapman Capital, said he completely exited his long position in Herbalife Friday morning after Icahn disclosed his stake.

Hedge fund hot-shot Daniel Loeb, who runs Third Point LLC, is also said to have been paring back part of his big long position over the last few weeks, CNBC's Scott Wapner reports citing a source. He's still one of the biggest shareholders, the report said.

Since December 18, the trading session before Ackman confirmed his short position, shares of Herbalife are off 8.85%. However, since the beginning of 2013, the stock is up more than 20%. 

Herbalife is also expected to report Q4 earnings today after the closing bell.

Check out the chart from Friday: 

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Nutritional and weightloss supplement seller Herbalife just beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates and raised its sales guidance.

Herbalife posted $1.05 EPS. Sales came in at $1.1 billion, according to the earnings release.

On average, analysts polled by Bloomberg expected the multi-level marketing firm to post an adjusted EPS of $1.03 on sales of $1.049 billion. 

The stock is up slightly in after-hours.

Here's an excerpt from the release:

Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) today reported fourth quarter net sales of $1.1 billion, reflecting an increase of 20 percent compared to the same time period in 2011 on volume point growth of 18 percent. Net income for the quarter of $117.8 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, compares to 2011 fourth quarter net income of $105.4 million and EPS of $0.86, respectively.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2012, the company reported record net sales of $4.1 billion, an 18 percent increase on 20 percent growth in volume compared to 2011. For the same period, the company reported net income of $477.2 million, or $4.05 per diluted share, reflecting an increase of 16 percent and 23 percent, respectively, compared to the 2011 results of $412.6 million and $3.30 per diluted share.

“Herbalife continues to deliver record results in sales and profitability as our independent distributors go deeper into existing markets, developing more and more customers using our nutrition products every day,” said Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife’s chairman and CEO. “Obesity and poor nutrition are global public health problems. Our distributors are proud to be part of the solution.”

For the year ended December 31, 2012 the company generated cash flow from operations of $567.8 million, an increase of 11 percent compared to 2011; paid dividends of $135.1 million; invested $122.8 million in capital expenditures; and repurchased $527.8 million in common shares outstanding under our share repurchase program.

Here's the part about raising guidance.  Note a short-seller (a.k.a. Bill Ackman) is mentioned in the release. 

Updated 2013 Guidance

Guidance for fully diluted 2013 EPS is based on the average daily exchange rates of January 2013, which in aggregate are not materially different from the foreign currency exchange rates assumed in our prior guidance. Our 2013 guidance continues to assume a Venezuelan exchange rate of 10 to 1. The guidance does not include the one-time impact associated with the revaluation of our bolivar denominated monetary assets and monetary liabilities, which includes our bolivar denominated cash, due to the recent devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar, or any potential one-time impact from a future devaluation or the repatriation of existing cash balances. Guidance for the year also excludes one-time costs of $10 million to $20 million, mostly legal and advisory services, relating to the Company’s response to information put into the marketplace by a short seller which information the Company believes to be inaccurate and misleading.

Based on current business trends the company’s first quarter fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2013 guidance is provided below.

Herbalife has become one of the most controversial stocks lately.

That's because hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has publicly declared that he's shorting more than 20 million shares of Herbalife with a price target of $0.  The premise of his thesis is that he believes Herbalife is a pyramid scheme and regulators will be induced to investigate the company.

Herbalife has denied Ackman's claims saying he used "outdated" and "inaccurate information" when putting together his massive 342-slide short case presentation. 

This stock has also created a hedge fund clash of the titans.

On the long side, hedge fund hot-shot Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC, disclosed an 8.24% stake in the company back in January.  Loeb is said to have pared back some of his stake, but still remains one of the largest shareholders, according to CNBC's Scott Wapner.

In addition, legendary billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is a long time Ackman rival, disclosed a 12.98% stake in Herbalife which includes shares underlying call options.

Click here to refresh this post for updates >

Now Watch: How Herbalife Became A Battleground Stock For Two Wall Street Heavyweights

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Yesterday nutritional supplement seller Herbalife beat Wall Street's earnings estimates and raised its sales guidance. 

The multi-level marketing firm reported $1.05 EPS on sales of $1.1 billion.

Click here for updates >

On average, analysts polled by Bloomberg expected the multi-level marketing firm to post an adjusted EPS of $1.03 on sales of $1.049 billion.

Herbalife has become one of the most controversial stocks. 

Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has publicly declared that he's shorting more than 20 million shares of Herbalife with a price target of $0.  The premise of his thesis is that he believes Herbalife is a pyramid scheme and regulators will be induced to investigate the company.

The company said he used misleading and inaccurate information in his massive 342-slide presentation.

The company also released its 10K filed yesterday and a short-seller (a.k.a. Bill Ackman) got a mention in it (emphasis ours).

"In late 2012, a hedge fund manager publicly raised allegations regarding the legality of our network marketing program and announced that his fund had taken a significant short position regarding our common shares, leading to intense public scrutiny and significant stock price volatility. Following this public announcement in December 2012, our stock price dropped from $42.50 on December 18, 2012, to prices as low as $24.24 in the following week. Our stock price has continued to exhibit heightened volatility....Short sellers expect to make a profit if our common shares decline in value, and their actions and their public statements may cause further volatility in our share price. While a number of traders have publicly announced that they have taken long positions contrary to the hedge fund shorting our shares, the existence of such a significant short interest position and the related publicity may lead to continued volatility. The volatility of our stock may cause the value of a shareholder’s investment to decline rapidly. 

Herbalife's management also said that it has contacted the SEC after Ackman's presentation, the 10K shows. 

"From time to time, we receive inquiries from various government authorities requesting information from the Company. Following December 2012 market events and a subsequent meeting we requested with the staff of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, the staff requested information regarding the Company’s business and financial operations. Consistent with its policies, the Company is and will fully corporate with these inquiries."

We've included highlights from the call below. 

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William Cohan, the author of "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World", has a fantastic anecdote in his piece in the April issue of Vanity Fair  about an ill-fated Hamptons bike ride Bill Ackman took with Daniel Loeb last summer.

Cohan writes: 

...The plan was for Loeb, who is extremely serious about fitness and has done sprint triathlons, a half-Ironman, and a New York City Marathon, to pick up Ackman at Ackman’s $22 million mansion, in Bridgehampton. (Ackman also owns an estate in upstate New York and lives in the Beresford, a historic co-op on Manhattan’s Central Park West.) The two would cycle the 20 or so miles to Montauk, where they would meet up with the rest of the group and ride out the additional 6 miles to the lighthouse, at the tip of the island. “I had done no biking all summer,” Ackman now admits. Still, he went out at a very fast clip, his hypercompetitive instincts kicking in. As he and Loeb approached Montauk, Loeb texted his friends, who rode out to meet them from the opposite direction. The etiquette would have been for Ackman and Loeb to slow down and greet the other riders, but Ackman just blew by at top speed. The others fell in behind, at first struggling to keep up with the alpha leader. But soon enough Ackman faltered—at Mile 32, Ackman recalls—and fell way behind the others. He was clearly “bonking,” as they say in the cycling world, which is what happens when a rider is dehydrated and his energy stores are depleted.

While everyone else rode back to Loeb’s East Hampton mansion, one of Loeb’s friends, David “Tiger” Williams, a respected cyclist and trader, painstakingly guided Ackman, who by then could barely pedal and was letting out primal screams of pain from the cramps in his legs, back to Bridgehampton...

Read the rest at Vanity Fair >

Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is shorting more than 20 million shares of Herbalife.  He believes the mutli-level marketing firm that sells nutrition products is a "pyramid scheme." 

After Ackman shared his short case, Loeb, the CEO of Third Point LLC, disclosed a big stake in Herbalife and said Ackman's thesis "lacks merit" and his pyramid scheme claim is "preposterous".

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It takes some serious stones to tell the world you think a company's stock is going to zero.

That's probably why Vanity Fair has an awesome piece coming out next month about Bill Ackman and, more importantly, his confidence.

The story is called "The Big Short War" (by William Cohan) and it opens with an anecdote about Ackman's first big bet. He was in high school and he bet his father all his Bar Mitzvah money (kudos to him for still having it) that he could get a perfect score on the verbal.

From Vanity Fair:

In 1984, when he was a junior at Horace Greeley High School, in affluent Chappaqua, New York, he wagered his father $2,000 that he would score a perfect 800 on the verbal section of the S.A.T. The gamble was everything Ackman had saved up from his Bar Mitzvah gift money and his allowance for doing household chores. “I was a little bit of a cocky kid,” he admits, with uncharacteristic understatement.

Tall, athletic, handsome with cerulean eyes, he was the kind of hyper-ambitious kid other kids loved to hate and just the type to make a big wager with no margin for error. But on the night before the S.A.T., his father took pity on him and canceled the bet. “I would’ve lost it,” Ackman concedes. He got a 780 on the verbal and a 750 on the math. “One wrong on the verbal, three wrong on the math,” he muses. “I’m still convinced some of the questions were wrong.”

We've already forgotten our SAT scores. Willingly.

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JCPenney reported disastrous quarterly earnings yesterday with same store sales down 32 percent in the fourth quarter. 

The stock tanked on the earnings news. 

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of $12 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, is the biggest shareholder of JCP with a 18.11% stake, or 39,075,771 shares, according the latest 13F filing. 

So far, he's taken a bath betting on the retailer. 

According to our calculations, Pershing Square's JCP lost about $149 million in value since yesterday's close. 

Yesterday JCPenney stock closed at $21.16 a share. The stock was last trading down more than 18.11 percent at about $17.33 per share today. 

Ackman, who is on JCPenney's board, still remains a believer in the retailer.

Earlier this month at the Harbor Investment Conference, he said JCPenney's CEO Ron Johnson has done a lot in the 13 or 14 months that he's been at the helm.  

Ackman noted that Johnson had a tougher time with the decision to completely withdraw promotions. He explained that the consumer base was used to coupons, so that's why Johnson took the price level down to where the consumer would want to buy it. 

The problem, Ackman explained, is once those promotions were taken away is getting the consumer in, but the company has responded with the circulars and advertisements by including a reference price. He said JCPenney is also bringing sales back at relevant times.  

Ackman also said the media has been "very negative" and Johnson gets "picked on more than any other CEO in the country." 

Someone at the conference then asked Ackman what if JCP's plan doesn't work.  To that, he responded with, "It's hard for me to imagine a scenario in which sales don't stabilize."

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Legendary short-seller Jim Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates, told Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan that he wouldn't invest in Herbalife. 

Chanos, who said he doesn't "have a dog in the Herbalife hunt", is a big skeptic of the multi-level marketing model.

"I think any business that's dependent ultimately on pulling the wool over your customers whether its the distributors who take on more product than they can sell or the customers who are being sold product at two to three times than what's available down the street I think is a unstable long term business model that I wouldn't want to invest in. Whether you want to short it or not is another issue," he said.

"When you're in the business, in effect, of fooling your customers and your salesforce you don't have a really sustainable business." 

Herbalife is a multi-level marketing firm that sells nutrition products. It has become one of the most controversial stocks in the market because it's in the middle of a huge hedge fund war. 

On the bearish side, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, is shorting more than 20 million shares with a price target of zero because he believes the company is a "pyramid scheme".

On the long side, there's hedge fund hot-shot Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC who disclosed an 8.24% stake, and Ackman's long-time rival Carl Icahn, who has a 12.98% stake.

Watch the Chanos' interview in the video below:
 

Now Watch: How Herbalife Became A Battleground Stock For Two Wall Street Heavyweights

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Herbalife has announced an agreement with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is a major shareholder of the multi-level marketing firm that sells nutrition products. 

Icahn and Herbalife have agreed to increase the size of its board of directors from nine to eleven members.

Herbalife will also be adding two Icahn nominees to the board, according to the company's release. He said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that his two top people are at Herbalife. 

Icahn also has the right to boost his Herbalife stake up to 25% of outstanding common stock, according to the agreement. 

The stock was halted before the news was announced. It was trading up about 3% before the release came out. Since trading has resumed it's up about 7%.

Icahn then phoned into Bloomberg TV to talk about the news. 

"We're excited about it. This is not one where we don't like management. We do like management," Icahn said in an interview on Bloomberg TV with Trish Regan. He added that he "frankly doesn't understand" Ackman's criticism of the company. 

"We've done a hell of a lot of work on this. We're excited about this," he said. 

Icahn also told Bloomberg TV that he would like to buy more stock in Herbalife.

Again, he said he doesn't understand Ackman's short case. 

"I don't comprehend...why you have to put out a 300 page report... I don't understand what he did and why he's trashing it," Icahn said, adding that he likes to keep his shorts quiet and gets mad if anyone talks about it.  

"I think that Ackman has given us an opportunity to buy a company cheaply, at a discounted price," he added.  

Regan asked Icahn if Ackman made a "big mistake".

"Well, if you look at his record lately, he has made a few very big mistakes. I am not going to say just this one. I am not here to question Ackman. I do not want to get pulled into that again…I look at it as a great opportunity. Ironically, I thank him for giving it to me. Does not mean I like him," Icahn told Bloomberg TV.

Here's the full release (via Street Insider):

Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Carl C. Icahn, Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P. and certain related entities (collectively the “Icahn Parties”), which beneficially own, in the aggregate 14,015,151 shares of Herbalife common stock, representing approximately 13.6% of the Company’s outstanding shares. As part of the agreement, Herbalife will increase the size of its Board of Directors from nine to eleven members immediately before the 2013 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (“the Annual Meeting”). Herbalife’s Board of Directors will nominate two individuals to the Company’s Board of Directors, designated by the Icahn Parties and approved by the Company’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Icahn Parties have agreed to, among other things, abide by certain standstill provisions and vote their shares in support of all of the Board’s director nominees. The Icahn Parties have the right to increase the size of their ownership position in Herbalife up to 25% of the outstanding common stock. A copy of the agreement with further detail will be attached to a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Herbalife with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement and look forward to working with the Icahn representatives as members of our Board of Directors,” said Michael O. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Herbalife. “We appreciate the Icahn Parties’ shared views on the inherent value of Herbalife’s operations, products and future prospects.”

“Over its long history, Herbalife has proven its ability to increase revenues and returns, and we will work with the Company to build on its results,” said Mr. Icahn. “We conducted considerable research on Herbalife and its business before making our investment in the Company, and have great respect for its Board and management team, and believe in the Company's great potential. We expect our shareholder representatives to provide positive input into Board decisions affecting the future of the Company.”

The nutritional supplement seller has become one of the most controversial stock lately.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is shorting more than 20 million shares of the multi-level marketing firm.  He has a price target of zero and believes the company is a "pyramid scheme".

Not everyone agrees with Ackman's short thesis, especially his long-time rival billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Icahn recently disclosed a 12.98% in Herbalife. 

Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC, disclosed an 8.24% long stake back in January.  

More to come...

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Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, isn't the only one taking a bath on JCPenney's stock.

Billionaire real estate mogul Steven Roth's real estate investment trust Vornado Realty is also a huge stakeholder.

Vornado Realty owned 23,400,000 shares, or a 10.67% stake as of October 8, 2012, according to 13D data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Roth, 70, who was named to JCPenney's board of directors at the same time as Ackman, was called out by an analyst during his company's fourth quarter earnings call yesterday morning over his JCP investment.  

In short, the analyst asked him if being on JCP's board compromised his independence to potentially exit that investment if it was necessary to do so.  He responded with "Yes."

Remember, this was before the retailer released its abysmal quarterly earnings yesterday.

Yesterday JCPenney released disastrous quarterly earnings results with same store sales plunging 32 percent in the fourth quarter. The stock was last trading down more than 15% today. 

Anyway, here's an excerpt of the transcript from the Vornado call posted by Seeking Alpha: 

Michael Knott - Green Street Advisors, Inc., Research Division

Okay. And then last question would be for you, Steve. I know you're committed to the J.C. Penney investment. But just a question, does being on the Board there somewhat compromise your independence, so to speak, to potentially exit that investment if that was deemed to be the best thing to do?

Steven Roth - Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee

Yes.

Michael Knott - Green Street Advisors, Inc., Research Division

Yes, it does compromise?

Steven Roth - Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee

Yes. The answer to your question, Michael, is yes.

Michael Knott - Green Street Advisors, Inc., Research Division

Is it the best thing for Vornado, for you to be on the Board there?

Steven Roth - Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee

I'm not -- I can't comment on that.

What's more is Roth also acknowledged on the earnings conference call that JCPenney is struggling. 

Here's the excerpt via Seeking Alpha: 

 "...J.C. Penney is a newer investment which is struggling right now. J.C. Penney has its earnings call this afternoon, I think after the market closes. I'm a Director of J.C. Penney so I really can't talk very much about it, but J.C. Penney is an investment which is in progress now and I -- really, it's inappropriate for me to talk about what our holding period might be or what our future plans in terms of sale or not sale and the timing. It's just not appropriate in that particular investment..."

Vornado Realty was last trading down more than 2.6%. 

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Hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is officially a billionaire. 

Forbes has just released its annual "World's Billionaires" list and this time Ackman is on it. 

The magazine estimates that the 46-year-old fund manager has a net-worth of $1.2 billion. He ranks No. 1,175 in the world. 

This is some much needed good news for the fund manager.

Ackman has made headlines lately for his Herbalife short. He is shorting more than 20 million shares of the nutrition supplement seller with a price target of $0 because he believes it is a pyramid scheme. 

He has also been in the spot light for his big position in JCPenney, which had disastrous earnings causing the stock to tank. 

SEE ALSO: 13 Reasons Why You Should Become A Billionaire >

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The annual Forbes' "World's Billionaires List" is out. 

Every year, the list is full of the biggest names in the hedge fund industry. 

This year, there are some newcomers to the list including, Bill Ackman (Pershing Square), Seth Klarman (Baupost Group) and Andreas Halvorsen ("Tiger Cub"/Viking Global). 

We've included a round up of the world's richest hedge funders in the slides that follow. 

Seth Klarman

Rank: 1332

Net-worth: $1.05 billion

Age: 55

Fund: Baupost Group

Source: Forbes

Henry Swieca

Rank: 1175

Net-worth: $1.2 billion

Age: 55

Fund: Talpion Fund Management

Source: Forbes

Thomas Sandell

Rank: 1175

Net-worth: $1.2 billion

Age: 52

Fund: Sandell Asset Management

Source: Forbes

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The April issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands tomorrow. 

We're excited because we can't wait to read Bill Cohan's feature on the hedge fund war between Bill Ackman and Daniel Loeb and Carl Icahn. 

We've already seen the sneak peak about that Hamptons bike ride with Loeb last summer that totally destroyed Ackman.

Basically, the anecdote Cohan shares made Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, look overly confident and that he thinks he's always right. Those are major reasons why some people in the hedge fund community dislike him. 

There's supposed to be some juicy tid-bits about the friendships between these hedge fund titans. 

We can't wait to read it. 

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We've read a copy of tomorrow's Vanity Fair profile on billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management — and you're definitely going to want to check it out.

William Cohan's profile is packed with juicy tidbits about the relationships between the players in the latest hedge fund war over Herbalife. 

Herbalife, a multi-level marketing firm that sells nutritional supplements, is at the center of a clash of hedge fund titans.

On the bearish side, Ackman's Pershing Square is short-selling $1 billion worth of its shares with a price target of $0 because he believes it's a pyramid scheme.

Meanwhile a number of hedge funders, including Ackman's former friend Daniel Loeb of Third Point LLC and long-time rival Carl Icahn, have snapped up big long stakes.

Now some quotes from tomorrow's big article: 

ON WHY ACKMAN'S NO LONGER FRIENDS WITH GREENLIGHT'S DAVID EINHORN:

"David and I are friendly, but it's like we were boyfriend and boyfriend, and then one day we were just friends, and now we're just friendly," Ackman says. "I have enormous respect for him. But as a result of that, I stopped calling him and he stopped calling me, so that's why I didn't talk to him" about Herbalife.

HEDGE FUNDER BOB CHAPMAN, WHO WENT LONG HERBALIFE AND IS KNOWN FOR HIS VITRIOLIC LETTERS TO COMPANIES, ON WHY OTHER HEDGE FUNDERS DISLIKE ACKMAN:

"The story I hear from everybody is that one can't help but be intrigued by the guy, just because he's somewhat larger than life, but then one realizes he's just pompous and arrogant and seems to have been born without a gene that perceives and measures risk."

ACKMAN ON CHAPMAN:

"He's a lunatic. And I think, by the way, that he's proud to be a lunatic, and he's even said as much, that it's part of his strategy, as an activist to make the other side think you're crazy." 

AN UNNAMED HEDGE FUNDER ALSO POINTS OUT HOW ACKMAN CAN OFFEND OTHERS:

"There is a saying in this business: 'Often wrong, never in doubt.' Ackman personifies it....He is very smart—but he lets you know it. And he combines that with this sort of noblesse oblige that lots of people find offensive—me, generally not.  On top of that he is pointlessly, needlessly competitive every time he opens his mouth. Do you know about the cycling trip with Dan Loeb?" 

ACKMAN CASUALLY REVEALS HE HAD SKIN CANCER:

Ackman also announced—on the spur of the moment, he says that he would donate $25 million to the Sohn foundation, which supports pediatric cancer care and research. "You know what?" he says he told Douglas Hirsch. "It's time for me to do something for cancer." He later explained to me, "By the way, I was diagnosed with skin cancer. Within a week of the event. Basal cell carcinoma, and I had it removed. You've got to see this scar." 

You definitely want to check out the full profile when it comes out. Check out the preview here >

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William Cohan's Vanity Fair profile of billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, comes out today.

In the extensive piece about the hedge fund war over Herbalife, we learn why Ackman is no longer friends with hedge fund hot-shot David Einhorn, the CEO of Greenlight Capital.

Cohan writes:

Einhorn and Ackman were once good friends. They met on a subway platform in 1998 after they both had attended an industry luncheon.  In March 2010, when the two appeared together on CNBC, Einhorn said of Ackman, "Bill's a phenomenal investor... His returns are absolutely extraordinary. It shows there are a lot of different ways to go about things. He's a fabulous investor." 

Without missing a beat, Ackman replied, "David is my marketing adviser." 

The relationship soured, however, around the time the Indago Girls were making their Herbalife pitch to both men. "David and I had what you might call a falling-out," Ackman admits. It happened in June 2011, when Ackman was quoted in The New York Times revealing that Einhorn, a Milwaukee-area native, had wanted to buy the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004 but lost out to Mark Attanasio, another financial heavyweight. At that moment, Einhorn was trying to buy a piece of the New York Mets, and, Ackman says, Einhorn feared if the Mets knew of his previous interest in the Brewers they would conclude he was just another rich hedge-fund guy looking to buy a new toy, as opposed to being a serious Mets fan. Ackman says he was just trying to show that his friend had a lifelong interest in baseball. There was some back-and-forth on e-mail between the two men, and that was that.

"David and I are friendly, but it's like we were boyfriend and boyfriend, and then one day we were just friends, and now we're just friendly," Ackman says. "I have enormous respect for him. But as a result of that, I stopped calling him and he stopped calling me, so that's why I didn't talk to him" about Herbalife. (Einhorn declined to discuss Herbalife or his relationship with Ackman, but lavishly praised Dan Loeb.)

Now that's just kind of sad. 

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Struggling retailer JCPenney's stock hit a new 52-week low today. 

The stock was last trading down more than 3% early in the session at $14.51 a share.

Yesterday, JCPenney's stock tanked more than 10% after board member Steven Roth's Vornado Realty, the second largest shareholder, dumped 10 million JCP shares. The stock closed at $14.96 yesterday.

This is terrible news for billionaire hedge fund activist investor Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management. 

Roth was seen as an Ackman ally in the JCPenney investment.  They were also both named to the retailer's board at the same time. 

Ackman is the largest holder in JCPenney.  

His Pershing Square owned a 18.11% stake, or 39,075,771 shares during the fourth quarter of 2012, according the latest 13F filing. 

Pershing Square first snapped up a stake in third quarter of 2010 ending on September 30, according to a 13F regulatory filing.

Ackman, who has been a supporter of JCPenney's CEO Ron Johnson, has taken a bath on the stock so far.  

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Famed short-seller Jim Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" this morning that he shorted Herbalife last year.  

"We were short last year," Chanos said, adding, "We were short at a price."

He currently has no position in Herbalife, which is a multi-level marketing firm that sells nutrition products.

He explained that he's "not crazy" for this multi-level marketing model. He's said that before. 

He also added that he thinks Bill Ackman is "correct in his analysis in that when your business is based, in effect, on selling an overpriced commodity to your customers or you distributors you ultimately have a flawed business down the road."

He said he covered his short because the stock almost got cut in half in November of last year. 

Herbalife has become one of the most controversial stocks lately.  Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, publicly declared that he's shorting more than 20 million shares of Herbalife because he believes it's a "pyramid scheme."

Not everyone agrees with Ackman, though.  A number of hedge fund hot-shots, including Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC, and Ackman's long-time rival Carl Icahn have snapped up big stakes in Herbalife.

Shares of Herbalife were down slightly in pre-market trading. 

Watch the video below: 

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JC Penney is a company in free fall.

It recently had one of the worst retail quarters in history with a staggering 32 percent drop in same store sales, and may lose out on an essential agreement with Martha Stewart in a lawsuit with Macy's. 

The few remaining believers, notably Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, argue that there's still unlocked potential in the company and that CEO Ron Johnson just needs time to enact his turnaround plan.

But there could be a fundamental problem (if not many fundamental problems) with Johnson's plan. 

As Rotman School of Management Dean Roger Martin writes at the Harvard Business Review, is that the company has no real strategy. He puts it bluntly: "The problem with J.C. Penney is that it serves no compelling customer purpose."

While Johnson has focused on improving elements of the store, he hasn't isolated the central reason for being that must be behind a successful brand. He hasn't provided anything that makes JC Penney the stand out from the pack.

Nothing makes that more clear than one of Johnson's core turnaround idea of high grossing shops within stores focused around specific brands. The success of these segments has served only to highlight how poorly the rest of the store is doing.

Martin writes:

For the approximately 90% of the store that isn't the new J.C. Penney, the floor of sales/square foot hasn't been a floor but rather quicksand ...

Customers are likely to walk through the 'old J.C. Penney' part of the store thinking "this is pretty bland" and then get to the 'new J.C. Penney' part and think "wow, the rest of the store is really a lot worse than I thought." That is how sales per square foot in the 'new J.C. Penney' can be double the rest of the store and total store sales are down 30%. The tiny 'new J.C. Penney' part of the store is cannibalizing massive volumes of sales from the 'old J.C. Penney' part of the store for each customer who walks through the door.

The optimistic view is that as the new JC Penney expands to become the whole store, sales will keep rising. That argument only makes sense, however, if sales at the new JC Penney not only overcome the cannibalization of the older style floor space, but are also so big that they challenge external competitors like Macy's and Target.

There's no evidence that this is happening.

Meanwhile Johnson's plan to stop having sales has been abandoned, a Martha Stewart-branded shop may not even happen, and a steady stream of layoffs won't draw any new customers.

A real strategy is built around answering a difficult question: What can this company do better than anyone else?

At this point, the company's not really trying to answer that, and it's not trying to beat anything but the old version of itself. That's not a plan that wins.

SEE ALSO: P&G's Legendary Ex-CEO Explains How Everyone Gets Strategy Wrong

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