Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, has represented high-profile clients including companies like Tesla as well as figures such as Elon Musk, Robert Kraft, Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, Megan Thee Stallion, Naomi Osaka, Mick Jagger, Charles Oakley, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
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Shares of controversial short seller target AppLovin were leveled in late trading Monday, falling more than 15% one point after it was reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company over its data-collection practices, according to a Bloomberg exclusive.
Bloomberg writes that the probe, handled by SEC officials focused on cyber and emerging technologies, centers on claims the company broke platform partners’ service agreements to deliver more targeted ads. The review stems from a whistleblower complaint filed earlier this year and several short-seller reports, though the SEC hasn’t accused AppLovin or its executives of wrongdoing.
AppLovin said it “regularly engage[s] with regulators and if we get inquiries we address them in the ordinary course. Material developments, if any, would be disclosed through the appropriate public channels.” The SEC declined to comment, citing its limited press response during the government shutdown.
The plunge comes despite the company nearly doubling its market value this year to more than $230 billion and being added to the S&P 500 Index in September, fueled by demand for AI-driven ad tools.
Short sellers, including Fuzzy Panda and Muddy Waters, have alleged AppLovin used unauthorized “fingerprinting” to track users across apps and sites, in violation of Apple’s rules and until recently, Google’s policies. Muddy Waters called it "another scammy ad tech company" in their slide deck on the company.
CEO Adam Foroughi dismissed the reports as “littered with inaccuracies” and denied creating “alternative accurate and persistent identifiers, typically called device fingerprints.”
In March, AppLovin hired attorney Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel to run an “independent review and investigation into recent short report activity.” The company said the work is ongoing and aimed at uncovering the origins of “clearly false reports.”
AppLovin’s partners include Meta, Amazon, and Google, though it isn’t clear which relationships are under review. There’s no indication the SEC is examining the conduct of those partners.
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