Supplements firm backed by Mark Zuckerberg ‘pure hype,’ short seller claims

A nutritional supplements company backed by an investment firm tied to Mark Zuckerberg claims to sell a revolutionary anti-aging pill — but a short seller claims the company is “pure hype.”

ChromaDex, a Los Angeles-based marketer that says it’s “dedicated to healthy aging,” sold shares in a 2017 deal that made Zuckerberg’s investment firm Iconiq its second-largest shareholder with a 1.7-million-share stake that was then valued at $7 million. At the time, ChromaDex’s biggest investor was Li Ka-shing, a Chinese billionaire and early Facebook investor who swears by the company’s flagship product, Tru Niagen. Ka-shing invested $25 million.