Carson Block: There’s Power In Feeling Like You Have Nothing To Lose [In-depth Interview]

The 2025 Sohn London conference was held on Nov. 19, and Hedge Fund Alpha caught up with several managers who spoke at the conference, including Carson Block of Muddy Waters.

Also see: Muddy Waters’ Carson Block – This Gold Miner Could 5x On a “Tier One Freak Discovery”

In an interview, Block shared the story of how he got into short selling, details on his research process and the most unconventional fieldwork he’s done in his research, and what he thinks will be the future of activist and traditional short selling.

Background on Carson Block

Block grew up in the investment industry, with his father teaching him how to analyze companies on the long side starting from a young age. He started typing his father’s reports in middle school and then doing light editing in high school, spending every summer vacation except the one following graduation either working with him or other investors.

Block opened an investment account in high school, sometimes using the payphone to call in buy or sell orders, mainly on stocks his father invested in. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be in finance and started thinking about emerging markets because his father was in the micro-cap space.

“He imbued me with this idea that I should take more risk for larger rewards,” Block said. “His whole focus was looking for growth companies, but I was trying to extrapolate beyond that, as in, where can I really move out on the risk curve?”

Turning attention to Asia

By the time he was a freshman in high school, Block knew he wanted to invest in Asia.

“Why Asia? From a pragmatic perspective I was not bilingual in Spanish, and I figured there are enough bilingual speakers of Spanish in the U.S., so that would leave me at a disadvantage,” he explained. “I figured I should be somewhere in Asia.”

Although Eastern Europe was opening up then, the region wasn’t on Block’s radar at the time, in the early 1990s. He was also fascinated by Asia on a cultural level, so he did a summer abroad in Japan after his freshman year of high school.

“The homestay really whetted my appetite for Asia,” Block added. “So I just continued to point myself in that direction.”