Investors betting against shares in Wirecard AG, the stricken German fintech company, hit a prodigious payday this week. For some passionate critics of the company, the reward wasn’t just in money, but in vindication.

Before Wirecard revealed more than $2bn of cash was missing from its business on Thursday, investors who bet on stocks to decline had made it one of their most popular targets. That set up what may have been one of the biggest paydays for short sellers on a single stock in years.