Ben Axler

Ben Axler is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Spruce Point Capital Management, a New York-based investment management firm he established in 2009.1 As an activist short-seller and forensic financial researcher, Axler has dedicated his career to exposing financial schemes and challenging the Wall Street status quo.12

Background and Expertise

Axler's firm, Spruce Point Capital Management, specializes in:

• Research-driven short-selling
• Value and special situation investment opportunities
• Forensic financial and accounting analysis

The firm has released over 100 forensic short reports on companies across various industries, market capitalizations, and geographies since its inception.1

Investment Approach

Spruce Point Capital's investment strategy is characterized by:

• Changing investors' perception of a company's value through public sharing of new information or variant viewpoints
• Focusing on companies where the bull case is misunderstood
• Identifying severe concerns indicative of potential downside risk for investors

Some key areas of concern that Spruce Point targets include:

• Material misrepresentation of financials
• Aggressive accounting practices
• Misleading product or service claims
• Misalignment between management and shareholders
• Flawed governance
• Presence of bad actors in management1

Recent Activities

Axler has been actively involved in high-profile short-selling campaigns:

1. In January 2024, he bet against MSCI, citing concerns about expensive acquisitions, aggressive accounting, and governance issues.2

2. In September 2024, Spruce Point Capital shorted Intuit, highlighting growth challenges and acquisition-related concerns.3

Ben Axler's work as an activist short-seller has gained recognition in the financial industry. His firm's flagship hedge funds reported a gain of 7.4% in a year when the market experienced a downturn, demonstrating the effectiveness of their strategy.4