Ivan Boesky: Infamous Insider Trader Dies at 87, Reports Confirm

Ivan F. Boesky, the stock trader whose cooperation with the government exposed one of the largest insider trading scandals on Wall Street, has died at the age of 87. Boesky was once considered one of the richest and most influential risk-takers on Wall Street, with a fortune estimated at over $200 million. However, after being implicated in insider trading, he cooperated with US attorney Rudolph Giuliani in a bid for leniency, uncovering a scandal that affected some of the most respected US investment brokerages and led to significant changes in the securities industry.Working undercover, Boesky secretly recorded three conversations with Michael Milken, the so-called junk bond king whose work with Drexel Burnham Lambert had revolutionized the credit markets. Milken eventually pleaded guilty to six felonies and served 22 months in prison, while Boesky paid a $100 million fine and spent 20 months in a minimum-security California prison beginning in March 1988.Boesky was an arbitrageur who made millions by betting on stocks thought to be the target of corporate takeovers. However, some of his tips came from within the mergers and acquisitions departments of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and Kidder, Peabody & Co. Dennis Levine of Drexel and Martin Siegal of Kidder, Peabody fed Boesky confidential information in return for a promised cut of profits.Boesky's cooperation provided the government with extensive information about securities law violations since the legislative hearings that led to the 1933 and 1934 Securities Acts. His involvement in illegal activities remains a mystery, as he had already amassed a fortune estimated at over $200 million through legitimate enterprise and was skilled at arbitrage.

Representative image