29 Facts About Andrew Left

Under the name Citron Research, Left publishes reports on firms that he claims are overvalued or are engaged in fraud.

Andrew Left is known for advising investors on short selling and has often appeared on various media outlets such as CNBC and Bloomberg to talk about his opinions on stocks.

In 2017, Andrew Left was called 'The Bounty Hunter of Wall Street' by The New York Times.

Andrew Left gained further notoriety following his announced short of GameStop, precipitating a short squeeze that has hurt him and other short sellers in the short term.

In 2016, Andrew Left was banned for five years by the Hong Kong Market Misconduct Tribunal for disclosing false or misleading information in connection with the publication of a research report on Chinese property developer Evergrande Group, and so inducing transactions under the Securities and Futures Ordinance.

Andrew Left was born in a Detroit suburb to a Jewish family and later moved with his family to Coral Springs, Florida.

Andrew Left attended Coral Springs High School where he was a member of the debate team and president of the Jewish youth group.

Andrew Left became active in short selling by the age of 24.

Andrew Left has cited his experience with Universal Commodity Corp as the reason he started short selling stocks promoted by boiler-room scams.

Andrew Left was named director of the company in November 1999.

Andrew Left switched to shorting the stocks full-time, using his own research to publish free reports on firms he feels are overvalued or engaged in fraud.

Andrew Left was a keynote speaker at the 2017 and 2018 Harvard Business School Investment Conference.

Andrew Left rebranded the site as Citron Research in 2007.

In 2008, Andrew Left released a report in which he concluded that Home Solutions was not transparent about the company's relationship with American Renaissance.

When Questcor was acquired by Mallinckrodt, Andrew Left criticized the new company for continued misconduct.

Several of Andrew Left's reports have become highly publicized, including a 2012 report on the legality of operations by Nu Skin Enterprises, and a 2015 report on Valeant Pharmaceuticals bringing attention to inflated sales.

The Wall Street Journal reported Andrew Left being targeted online, including an incident where Andrew Left's social media accounts were hacked to text his children and used "threatening, profane and personal language".

Andrew Left followed up with a report focused on pharmaceutical distributor Philidor RX.

Andrew Left called for the US Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the issue and referred to the company as the "Pharmaceutical Enron".

In October 2017, Andrew Left released a report calling Shopify "a business dirtier than Herbalife", claiming it overstated the amount of merchants using the e-commerce platform and described it as a "get-rich-quick" scheme in contravention of Federal Trade Commission regulations.

In January 2020, Andrew Left announced in his annual letter to investors that Citron Research had exited the short position.

Andrew Left sent a legal notice to the 60 Chinese executives involved, seeking an apology, and told Tech In Asia that he is consulting with lawyers and considering legal action in response.

In 2011, Andrew Left released a report through Citron about Longtop Financial, a financial software house based in China, accusing it of defrauding shareholdings, over-reporting revenues, and lacking transparency in the company's acquisition process.

Andrew Left was later issued a Wells notice of impending criminal charges from the SEC.

In 2012, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission commenced proceedings in the Market Misconduct Tribunal against Andrew Left, contending that he had spread false and misleading information about Evergrande Group in a report published that year on Citron Research's website.

In that report, Andrew Left had alleged that Evergrande was insolvent and had consistently presented fraudulent information to the investing public.

Andrew Left was banned from trading for five years, ordered to repay around HK$1.6 million in trading profits and about HK$4 million in legal costs and expenses incurred by the SFC, and would face criminal prosecution if he breaks Hong Kong market misconduct rules again.

In 2021, Andrew Left's claims were shown to be correct as the Evergrande Group signaled that they will not be able to pay off the interest on $300 billion in liabilities, sparking a global market sell-off.

In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Andrew Left created a scholarship for students of the school.