Andy Jenks, a sixth-generation Illinois farmer, owns shares in a small real-estate investment trust called Farmland Partners Inc. but rarely thought about them. That changed on July 11, 2018. That morning, a writer going by the name Rota Fortunae published an article on an investing website, Seeking Alpha, alleging Farmland was at risk of insolvency, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some investors had shorted the company, betting Farmland’s stock was poised to decline. It did, and by the end of the day, Farmland was down 39%. It took more than two years for the share price to recover. Denver-based Farmland sued Rota Fortunae in Colorado federal court. The company accused the writer, whose real name is Quinton Mathews, of posting a “false and misleading” article to drive down the company’s shares. Farmland also sued a Dallas hedge fund, Sabrepoint Capital Management, in Colorado federal court and Texas state court, accusing it of working with Mathews for the same purpose. Mathews later said key parts of his article were incorrect, a statement he issued to settle Farmland’s lawsuit. Sabrepoint disputed Farmland’s allegations, saying it didn’t instruct Mr. Mathews to write his report and didn’t pay him to do it. Judges in both states dismissed Farmland’s lawsuits against the hedge fund, though Farmland is appealing in Texas.
