Jack Dorsey’s Block loses 20% of value as Hindenburg Research makes damning allegations
Block, the Jack Dorsey-founded fintech formerly known as Square, is in trouble after falling within the crosshairs of notorious short-seller Hindenburg Research.
Hindenburg is one of a new-ish breed of short-seller that performs deep research into companies it thinks are overhyped or dabbling in fraud and takes a short position on its target's stock before publishing its findings. It most recently grabbed headlines for hammering the business empire of India’s Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men, but you may also remember it from previous hits such as hydrogen-powered-truck outfit Nikola (whose CEO Trevor Milton ended up being convicted of fraud) and health-tech startup Clover Health (resulting in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and investor lawsuit).
Now Hindenburg has turned its attention to Dorsey’s Block, shares in which dropped as much as 22% on the report’s release, before partially recovering. Hindenburg said it had been investigating Block for two years, and accused it of:
