Ivan Boesky
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Ivan Frederick Boesky (born March 6, 1937) was notable for his prominent role in a Wall Street insider trading scandal that occurred in the United States in the mid-1980s.
Boesky was born in Detroit, Michigan. By 1986 he became an arbitrageur who had amassed a fortune of about US$200 million by betting on corporate takeovers. He was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission by making investments based on tips received from corporate insiders. These stock acquisitions were sometimes brazen, with massive purchases occurring only a few days before a corporation announced a takeover.
Although insider trading of this kind was illegal, laws prohibiting it were rarely enforced until Boesky was prosecuted. Boesky cooperated with the SEC and informed on several of his insiders, including junk bond trader Michael Milken. As a result of plea bargaining Boesky received a prison sentence of 3.5 years and was fined US$100 million. Although he was released after two years, he was barred from working in the securities business for the remainder of his life.
Boesky gave an infamous speech on the positive aspects of greed at the University of California in 1986 (where he said in part "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself") which inspired the key speech in the 1987 movie Wall Street.