Ivan Boesky
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| Ivan Boesky | |
| Born | March 6, 1937 Detroit, Michigan |
|---|---|
Ivan Frederick Boesky (born March 6, 1937, in Detroit) is an American businessperson who is notable for his prominent role in a Wall Street insider trading scandal that occurred in the United States in the mid-1980s.
Boesky is of Jewish descent.[1] He attended the Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills before graduating from Detroit's Mumford High School. He then attended courses at Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan. After that he went to Iran for several years where he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. After his return, he was admitted to the Detroit College of Law, which allowed him to enroll despite having no undergraduate college degree. He graduated from the Detroit College of Law in 1965.[2].[3]
By 1986, Ivan Boesky had become an arbitrageur who had amassed a fortune of over US$200 million by betting on corporate takeovers. He was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for 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. Boesky was on the cover of TIME December 1, 1986.[4]
Although insider trading of this kind was illegal, laws prohibiting it were rarely enforced until Boesky was prosecuted.[5] Boesky cooperated with the SEC and informed, including the case against financier Michael Milken. As a result of a plea bargain 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.[6] He served his prison sentence at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp near Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Boesky has never recovered his reputation after doing a stint in jail, and paying hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and compensation for his Guinness share-trading fraud role and a host of separate insider dealing scams. In later years he embraced Judaism strongly and even took classes related to Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary where he was previously a major donor; however, in 1987, following the fallout from his financial scandal, The New York Times reported that "after Ivan F. Boesky had been fined $100 million in the insider-trading scandal, the Jewish Theological Seminary, acting at his request, took his name off its $20 million library."[7]
His involvement in criminal activities is recounted in the book Den of Thieves by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James B. Stewart.
[edit] Cultural references
- The character of Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street is based at least in part on Boesky, especially regarding a famous speech he delivered on the positive aspects of greed at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986, where he said in part "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself".[8] Note: this is not a good reference, it does not mention the Berkeley speech.
- In the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, Brad Pitt's character, Rusty Ryan, mentions a type of confidence scam termed "a Boesky" that involves a wealthy bankroller with insider information.
- Ivan Boesky is referenced in the episode "Future Stock" of Futurama when the character known as That Guy, himself based in turn on Gordon Gekko, states "I was having whiskey with Boesky [Boesky's surname rhymes with "whiskey"] and cookies with Milken."[9]
- Ivan Boesky is referenced in episode "Back in the Saddle Again" of Gilmore Girls when Rory's team meet at her grandparents house to find that Paris and Richard set up a board meeting for their class project.
- In the Psych episode "Psy vs. Psy", while Lassiter and Ewing are arguing in the hotel lobby, Ewing claims to have "personally arrested Ivan Boesky."
- In the Sliders episode "Last Days", a newspaper reports that "Ivan Boesky bought up half of Beverly Hills at $10,000 a house".
- His ownership of The Beverly Hills Hotel as Ivan F. Boesky is covered extensively in publications listed below.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/nyregion/boesky-studying-hebrew-and-talmud-at-seminary.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "Boesky Studying Hebrew and Talmud at Seminary" - The New York Time: ARI L. GOLDMAN - July 23, 1987
- ^ Stewart, James B., Den of Thieves, Simon & Schuster, 1991. Cf. p.35
- ^ Ulmer, Byran K., "Ivan Boesky" in Encyclopedia of White-collar & Corporate Crime, (Lawrence Salinger, editor), SAGE, 2004. Cf. p.96-97
- ^ Ivan Boesky at the TIME archive
- ^ Article on Boesky at New York
- ^ Ivan Boesky Biography at enotes.com
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/nyregion/boesky-studying-hebrew-and-talmud-at-seminary.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "Boesky Studying Hebrew and Talmud at Seminary" - The New York Time: ARI L. GOLDMAN - July 23, 1987
- ^ Battling Boeskys at TIME
- ^ "The Leela Zone - 3acv21: Future Stock episode transcript". http://www.futurama-madhouse.com.ar/scripts/3acv21.shtml.
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