What is Insider Trading ? Insider trading occurs when someone with access to confidential information about a company uses that knowledge to trade its stock. This information could include: • Earnings reports not yet released to the public. • Details of a merger or acquisition in the works. • Executive changes or strategic shifts. • New product launches or government approvals. Stewart sold nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems stock just before the FDA publicly rejected one of the company’s key drugs, causing the stock price to plummet. It was later revealed that Stewart’s stockbroker had tipped her off about the FDA decision, which he learned from Samuel Waksal, ImClone’s CEO. By selling her shares with this non-public information, Stewart avoided a significant financial loss. Sam Waksal (2001) Sam Waksal, the CEO of ImClone Systems, tipped off family and friends, including Martha Stewart, to sell their shares after learning the FDA would reject his company’s new cancer drug, Erbitux. This non-public information allowed Waksal and others to avoid significant losses when the stock plummeted.
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