Bill Ackman made an awkward comment about Korean people and why pyramid schemes work so well with them

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman just made an awkward comment about Korean people in a quarterly conference call for Pershing Square Holdings.

The Pershing Square founder was speaking about multilevel marketing company Herbalife - which Ackman believes is a pyramid scheme and has been short for nearly three years.

Referring to the company's expansion into South Korea, Ackman said:

"The reason why Korea is a great market to launch a pyramid scheme is because it's a very tight culture. Everyone speaks the same language. Everyone looks the same."

He continued: "Maybe not all Koreans look the same, but to the Caucasians they look the same."

Ackman quickly recognized that his choice of words weren't being received well, and said he could've been more politically correct.

Ackman is betting Herbalife's stock will go to $0.

That bet hasn't worked out in his favor. The stock has soared more than 50% this year.