Ivan Frederick Boesky American stockbroker Date of Birth: 06.03.1937 Country: USA

Biography of Ivan Frederick Boesky

Ivan Frederick Boesky, an American stockbroker, is best known for his involvement in the insider trading scandal that rocked Wall Street in the mid-1980s. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Boesky grew up in a Jewish family and attended several schools during his childhood. He eventually graduated from Mumford High School in Detroit and went on to Wayne State University.

Boesky did not stay at Wayne State University for long, as he later transferred to Eastern Michigan University and then to the University of Michigan. Despite not obtaining the necessary degrees, he managed to gain admission to the Detroit College of Law and graduated in 1965.

In the 1980s, Boesky worked as an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and New York University. By 1986, he had become a successful arbitrager, with a net worth exceeding $200 million. Boesky earned his fortune primarily through predicting corporate mergers, and he also benefited from his position as Chairman of The Beverly Hills Hotel Corporation, which he obtained after the death of a relative who held the position for 25 years.

However, Boesky's remarkable success caught the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Investigators suspected that he was using insider information for his own gain. Some of his suspicious transactions were conducted just days before official announcements of mergers. It is worth noting that insider trading laws existed at the time but were rarely enforced.

Boesky became one of the first individuals to be officially convicted of insider trading. He cooperated with the SEC, providing information that helped initiate a case against financier Michael Milken, among others. Ultimately, Boesky was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and fined $100 million. He served his sentence in the federal prison camp in Lompoc, California, near Vandenberg Air Force Base.

After only two years, Boesky was released from prison but was permanently barred from working in the securities market. He was unable to fully restore his reputation, as his involvement in one of the greatest scandals of modern times resulted in public condemnation and substantial fines. Boesky attempted to find solace in religion and even converted to Judaism. However, even his $20 million donation to create a new library for the Jewish Theological Seminary did not help cleanse his name. In 1987, The New York Times reported that, at Boesky's request, the seminary would no longer bear his name.

It is worth mentioning that Jonathan Guinness, in his book "Requiem for a Family Business," presented a version of Boesky's case that significantly differed from the official one. According to Guinness, Boesky received a carte blanche from the SEC to continue using insider information in exchange for providing information on all his future sources.