After nearly eight years, hedge fund manager Doug Tynan has finally closed his long-running short position against Corporate Travel. Tynan, chief investment officer at GCQ Funds Management, settled for 17 cents a share, a remarkable 99 per cent discount from Corporate Travel’s last trading price of $16.07 in August last year. Corporate Travel is a global travel management company, providing corporate travel solutions and services to businesses. The company has been the target of one of Australia’s most aggressive short-seller campaigns, initially launched by Tynan’s former fund, VGI Partners, in October 2018 with a scathing 176-page presentation and a nearly $60 million short position.
Tynan’s decision to close the bet, despite believing the stock was “worth zero,” was driven by the rising cost of borrowing the shares, which reached about 16 cents per annum, and the looming threat of Corporate Travel’s delisting from the ASX by the end of August. The company has faced ongoing challenges, including a trading halt last August after flagging an accounting issue and repeatedly delaying the filing of its audited accounts. Under ASX rules, Corporate Travel must provide these accounts by month-end or face delisting. Short sellers borrow shares and sell them at market price, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price to pocket the difference.
Known for his skilled short-selling, Tynan previously targeted listed law firm Slater and Gordon in 2015 and Danish jeweller Pandora in 2017. More recently, GCQ successfully shorted Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, closing positions below US$110 after initially shorting at about US$170. Despite a tough 2025-26 financial year where its flagship fund sank 22.6 per cent, GCQ rebounded 7.1 per cent in July. Tynan attributes this to companies demonstrating effective AI integration and a “bursting of the bubble” in semiconductor stocks. GCQ has also recently taken significant long positions in real estate classifieds, software companies like Microsoft and SAP, and luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, betting against prevailing market sentiment.
