After the GameStop reaction, Citron Research will stop publishing short-seller reports

For more than a decade, Left has been well known for trying to expose fraud at larger companies, publishing lengthy reports and making significant bets that the shares of these companies would lose their value. Among his most well-known calls was a successful bet against Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

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But this week, Mr. Left was the target of the ire of stock brokers who have teamed up online to raise shares in an unlikely boost stock, shopping retailer GameStop. Left, 50, has published negative reports about the company in recent weeks.

Some of these merchants shared their personal information, hacked Mr. Left’s social media accounts and sent text messages to Mr. Left and his two children, using threatening, profane and personal language, according to people close to the matter.

“The risk-reward of being a short seller is not worth it; it’s not worth it for me or my family, ”Left said in an interview.

The decision, he says, is a reflection of the new market.

“Young people want to buy shares. This is the zeitgeist. They don’t want to sell shares, so I’m going to help them buy shares, ”he said.

Left said he still criticizes GameStop’s shares and others that are popular recently, but said he felt the need to change his business to attract new entrants.

“I’m going to take the skepticism and mindset of short selling and apply it to the long side,” he said.

Mr. Left announced the decision in a YouTube video on Friday. He called the movement a simple pivot.

“When we started Citron, it was supposed to be against the establishment. In fact, we became the establishment, ”said Mr. Left in the video.

Still, he is proud of the work that Citron has done.

“We discovered more fraud than any non-governmental agency out there,” he says.

Write to Gregory Zuckerman at [email protected] and Geoffrey Rogow at [email protected]