Billionaire Bill Ackman's play: Politics for profit

Investor Bill Ackman has been very successful at making money, in part because of his ingenuity. One area where he has blazed a path: bet on a company to collapse, then pressure politicians to go after that company.

Ackman’s billion-dollar short of nutrition company Herbalife (which Ackman calls a pyramid scheme) has become notorious as a brash attempt to sic the Feds on a company for the sake of making a short bet pay off. Ackman hired lobbyists, convinced lawmakers to send letters and has leaned on the Feds to investigate Herbalife.