News & Analysis

PODCAST: Farmland Partners’ ‘short and distort’ public markets nightmare

Founder Paul Pittman discusses a defamatory attack on Farmland’s stock, as well as his firm’s forays into private farmland markets.

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When an author writing as Rota Fortunate – Greek for ‘Wheel of Fortune’ – accused Farmland Partners of fraudulent lending and inadequate disclosures in a July 2018 Seeking Alpha post, it led to a 40 percent drop in the New York Stock exchange-traded REIT’s stock and a lawsuit from a group of its shareholders. The case ultimately fell apart in June 2021 when the blogger, revealed as Dallas-based investment adviser Quintin Matthews, admitted to profiting from false statements.

In this episode of Spotlight, Agri Investor hears from Farmland Partners founder Paul Pittman on managing private and public capital in farmland markets and early lessons from the Rota Fortunate affair.