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Ivan Frederick Boesky (born March 6, 1937) was notable for his prominent role in an insider trading scandal that occurred in the mid-1980s.
Boesky was born in Detroit. He had been a arbitrageur on Wall Street who had amassed a fortune of about US$200 million by 1986 by betting on corporate takeovers. He was investigated by the SEC for receiving tips from corporate insiders, and then making investments accordingly. These stock purchases were sometimes brazen, with massive purchases of a stock taking place two or three days before the company announced it would be acquired.
Insider trading of this sort was illegal, but rarely enforced up to this time. Boesky turned state's evidence, cooperating with the SEC, and informed on several of his tipsters, including junk bond trader Michael Milken, and in exchange was allowed to plea bargain for 3 1/2 years in prison and a US$100 million fine. He was released after two years, but is barred from working in the securities business for the remainder of his life.
Boesky gave a "Greed is all right" speech at the University of California in 1986 which inspired the key speech in the 1987 movie Wall Street.
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