A top-secret, 30-page report was used to against the short-selling hedge fund manager. : Just as Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) finally celebrates the win of its over five-year-long battle with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a story by CNBC suggests that the fight was taken more seriously by the Los Angeles-based multi-level-marketing firm than ever expected. Ackman and his firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, wreaked havoc on the nutritional supplement company back in December 2012, betting a whopping $1 billion against Herbalife on the grounds that it was an illegal pyramid scheme that preyed on low-income people and minority groups.