Fahmi Quadir is a successful short seller and the founder of Safkhet Capital, a New York-based short-only hedge fund focused on identifying fraud. Some key points about her:
- She gained recognition for her short bet against Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2015, before its massive decline. She also made a winning short call on Wirecard before its collapse due to fraud allegations.
- Fahmi appears in the Netflix documentary series "Dirty Money" and "Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard" for her role in exposing corporate frauds. Forbes named her to their "30 Under 30" list in 2018.
- She founded Safkhet Capital in 2017 after previously managing short investments at Krensavage Asset Management. Safkhet is named after the ancient Egyptian goddess of mathematics and accounting.
- Her investment strategy focuses on intensive research to identify frauds and fundamental problems in companies. She shares research with other activist short sellers but avoids becoming publicly vocal herself.
- As a rare female short seller running her own fund, she has faced skepticism and harassment, but remains committed to her line of work. She sees short sellers as "outsiders" bringing accountability.
Fahmi Quadir has rapidly emerged as a prominent short seller targeting corporate fraud, gaining recognition for high-profile wins. She founded and runs her own specialized short-only hedge fund Safkhet Capital focused on this investment strategy.
Here are a few of the companies Fahmi Quadir has targeted as a short seller:
- Valeant Pharmaceuticals: Quadir played a pivotal role in successfully shorting Valeant during her time at Krensavage Asset Management. Valeant was described as the "pharmaceutical Enron" and accused of fraudulent accounting and drug price gouging before its massive decline.
- Wirecard: Quadir shorted the German payments processor Wirecard prior to its collapse in a massive accounting fraud scandal. She featured in a documentary about Wirecard's downfall ["Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard"].
- MiMedx: A biomedical company that was accused of channel stuffing and accounting fraud. Quadir shared research on MiMedx with other activist short sellers, though avoided becoming publicly vocal herself.
- Other healthcare and pharmaceutical companies: Quadir sees the healthcare sector as prone to exploitation and fraud, making companies like Valeant appealing short targets.
As a short-focused investor, Quadir is continuously researching and evaluating companies across sectors for short opportunities based on fundamental or ethical issues she identifies. Her fund Safkhet Capital maintains active short positions in multiple companies at any given time.
