According to a number of financial commentators, Ackman bet roughly $1 billion against the company; soon after remarks to the press, the price of the stock decreased such that Ackman would have made $300 million if he had closed his short position then. In March 2015, federal prosecutors and the FBI revealed that they were investigating whether or not individuals paid by Ackman and otherwise had made false statements about Herbalife's business model to regulators and others in order to lower the company's stock price and influence authorities to conduct an investigation.