Shopify CEO calls short seller a 'troll'

The top executive at Ottawa-based Shopify Inc.has fired back at ahigh-profile American short seller whoserecent critical report on the company was followed bya sharp drop in its share price.

In a series of tweets issued Tuesday, Tobias Ltke, Shopify's CEO, saidlots of peoplewant himto address the "short-selling troll"targeting Shopify.

"Looking forward to next earnings calls to do so," Ltke tweeted.

On Oct. 4,Citron Research's Andrew Left released a video arguing that Shopify's stock should be worth half what it was at the time.

Left claimed that most of the 500,000 businesses that Shopify works with aren't legitimate, butrather simply people who have been sold dubious "business opportunities" built around reselling, which goes against U.S. Federal Trade Commission rules.

"They are not selling them to business owners," Left said of the websites. "They are selling them to people as opportunities to get rich quick."

Shopifyis "a company that has mastered the good old get rich quick scheme," Left said, saying he can't account for as much as 90 per cent of the company's customer base.

Ltketook issue on Twitter with Left's claims.

"The irony of an outfit like Citron accusing any business of being a get-rich-quick scheme should not be lost on anyone,"hetweeted.

Contacted by Bloomberg, Left is reported to have said Ltke'sTwitter response "shows his immaturity as a CEO."

After closing at $145.70 on the TSX on Oct. 3, Shopify shares plunged to $128.95 the next day, following the issue of Left's report.

The stock lost ground each subsequent trading day until Wednesday, when it closed up more than two per cent, adding $2.64 to end at $118.40 on the TSX.