We're nearly at the 2 year anniversary of the unprecedented ban in short selling Wirecard that was ordered by the German securities regulator. (1/12)

Just over one year after that ban, Wirecard executives and associates were either arrested or on the run, and a global examination of how the company laundered money for cartels and oligarchs is underway. (2/12)

Wirecard's executives co-opted government agencies, politicians, and investment banks in its crusade against short sellers... not because Wirecard was concerned about shareholder losses, job losses, or service disruptions. (3/12)

Wirecard's crusade against short sellers was driven by the fact they knew that we knew. We knew the depth of the criminality and lies. We knew they got too far ahead of themselves and as the underworld moved towards diffuse crypto networks, its utility was diminishing. (4/12)

The short selling ban was waved around by Wirecard as an exoneration; it was used to broker deals, sell nearly $1.5 billion in new debt, all while in the background, its masterminds carefully planned the company’s own demolition. (5/12)

Burning short sellers at the stake may satisfy our most primal urges, but it rarely ends favorably for any parties involved. (6/12)

If investors followed the short interest in Wirecard, then that would've allowed them to make more informed decisions, maybe even consider the possibility something is amiss. (7/12)

Just like companies such as payday lenders, for-profit prisons and universities, opioid peddlers, unsafe consumer goods makers, price gougers... all tend to have sizable short interest. (8/12)

Then there are those that used exuberant equity markets to buy back stock, sell more stock, pay massive bonuses to execs, demand bailouts, lobby, all while laying off employees during a pandemic and economic crisis. I guarantee there's a short seller looking out for that. (9/12)

There is informational value in every position held on a security, short or long. And for the former, the value is even richer, since it runs contrary to the market and a company's wishful narrative. (10/12)

Inequity is bad for business and it's bad for markets. Further enriching coffers of corporate demi-gods, without holding them accountable to the public, their consumers, and their shareholders exacerbates that. (11/12)

Short sellers may not be the ideal check, but they are a necessary one especially in a moment where earlier lines of defense seem wholly unwilling. (12/12)

This very good girl agrees.