Famed short-seller Andrew Left says he was 'criminally convicted on manipulating Nvidia Facebook and Tesla for telling the truth and making a profit'

The Justice Department alleges Left “made false and misleading statements … asserting that the market incorrectly valued a company’s stock and advocating that the current price was too high or too low.” They added he “knowingly exploited his ability to move stock prices” by “posting recommendations on social media to manipulate the market and make fast, easy money.” The DOJ claimed Left made “more than $21 million” in the process.

Left, meanwhile, argued during the trial that “it’s the stock market. I say what I believe. I speak truth. If people want to read it, read it.”

In the end, the jury disagreed, while the conviction also set a precedent for fellow short-sellers and the repercussions they could face for making negatively valuing stocks in public.

What led to Left’s guilty verdict

Short-sellers are already an unpopular bunch for forecasting the fall of a stock — while even possibly contributing to the dip — and then profiting when they’re right. By contrast, Edwin Dorsey, who authors the short-seller newsletter The Bear Cave, argued that short-sellers serve as “watchdogs” who expose “overvalued or even fraudulent companies.”

But who watches the watchdogs? That’s the crux of the case against Left.

One government witness accused Left of “U-turn” trades, promoting one stance on a stock on social media to manipulate the price and then “trade counter to the sentiment he expressed in his tweet, sometimes within minutes.” It’s alleged he did this with stocks that include Tesla, Nvidia, Roku and others.

In addition, the jury heard Left allegedly worked in tandem with hedge funds, bragging his short of a stock meant they could “take candy from a baby,” referencing those who acted on his forecasts.