Overstock’s Byrne claims $5m scalp over short selling
Cade Metz, 09 December 2009
Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne has said that hedge fund Copper River Partners paid his company $5m this afternoon to settle claims it colluded to denigrate Overstock and then profit from short positions in the retailer’s shares.
Byrne – who has waged a very public battle over Wall Street short selling – tells The Reg that the $5m payment from Copper River (formerly Rocker Partners) arrived at about 2:30pm Pacific time on Tuesday. According to Byrne, it settles a 2005 lawsuit Overstock filed against the hedge fund.
We reached Copper River partner Marc Cohodes on his cell phone, but before we could ask for comment, he hung up. Copper River was liquidated last year in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown.
