A war of words has erupted in the financial world, with The Bear Cave’s Edwin Dorsey accusing short seller Hindenburg Research of plagiarism. This dispute centers around both firms’ recent reports on the video game stock Roblox.
Dorsey, a well-known figure among short sellers, publishes bearish reports on public companies through his newsletter, The Bear Cave. He emphasizes that he doesn’t engage in short selling himself. The controversy began when Dorsey published a report titled “Problems at Hindenburg Research,” directly accusing Hindenburg’s Nate Anderson of using information from The Bear Cave without proper acknowledgment. Dorsey highlighted the firm’s recent coverage of Roblox, claiming that Hindenburg’s report bears striking similarities to his own work.
“At times, Hindenburg used virtually identical reporting, wording, sourcing, and research methods in its Roblox report yet doesn’t mention The Bear Cave once in its 16,405-word report,” Dorsey stated.
Dorsey went further, providing several instances where Hindenburg published research on companies after The Bear Cave, pointing out similar wording and even identical company descriptions. Notably, he pointed to the use of similar language when describing Axos Financial.
Anderson, however, vehemently denies Dorsey’s accusations. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he stated that the plagiarism allegations are “false and ridiculously alleged.” He emphasized that he doesn’t read Dorsey’s blog and has never used any of his work for Hindenburg research.
Interestingly, Anderson revealed that he spoke with Dorsey last week before the plagiarism accusations were made public. He claims that Dorsey acknowledged the similarities between their reports but decided to go ahead with the accusations. Anderson posted a screenshot of a deleted tweet from Dorsey that confirmed the call, with Dorsey referring to Anderson as a “good guy.” Dorsey explained that he deleted the tweet after sleeping on the matter and realizing there were more issues than he initially thought. He also expressed doubts about the truthfulness of the call as he evaluated more information.
Dorsey responded to Anderson’s post, reiterating his accusations of improper disclosure and claiming that Anderson made false statements in his defense. He remained resolute in his insistence that The Bear Cave deserves proper credit. “We can have different views on the right approach, but that in no way means you can’t or shouldn’t cite The Bear Cave when appropriate,” Dorsey said.
This public dispute between two prominent figures in the financial world has sparked much debate about intellectual property and proper attribution in research. It remains to be seen how this controversy will unfold, but it’s a reminder that even in the world of finance, plagiarism allegations can have significant consequences.