Ivan Boesky

Early life and education

Boesky was born to a Jewish family in Detroit. His family owned several delicatessens and taverns in the city. He attended the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills before graduating from Detroit's Mumford High School. He then attended courses at Wayne State University in Detroit, Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Although he lacked an undergraduate degree, he was admitted to Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) and graduated in 1965. In the 1980s, Boesky served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and at New York University's Graduate School of Business.

Career

In 1966, Boesky and his wife moved to New York where he worked for several stock brokerage companies including L.F. Rothschild and Edwards & Hanly. In 1975, he initiated his own stock brokerage company, Ivan F. Boesky & Company, with $700,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) worth of start-up money from his wife's family

In 1986, Boesky entered an agreement with the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, agreeing to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit violations of the federal securities laws. He used inside information provided by Robert Wilkis and Ira Sokolow, two investment bankers, and purchased securities for entities with which he was affiliated. The inside information typically involved tender offers, mergers or other possible business combinations, for companies such as Nabisco Brands, Inc., R.J. Reynolds, and Houston Natural Gas Corp. Time magazine ran a December 1, 1986, cover story about his "scam," dubbing him "Ivan the Terrible."

Although insider trading of this kind was illegal, laws prohibiting it were rarely enforced until Boesky was prosecuted. He cooperated with the SEC and informed on others, including the case against financier Michael Milken and, per a plea bargain, received a prison sentence of years and was fined US$100 million. Although he was released after two years, he was permanently prohibited from working with securities. He served his sentence at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp near Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Boesky, unable to rehabilitate his reputation after being released from prison, paid hundreds of millions of dollars as fines and compensation for his Guinness share-trading fraud role and a number of separate insider-dealing scams. Later he began practicing Judaism, attended classes at Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and donated money to the seminary. In 1987, after the financial scandal fallout, he asked that his name be removed from the Jewish Theological Seminary Library.

Personal life

In 1962, Boesky married Seema Silberstein, the younger daughter of Detroit real estate magnate Ben L. Silberstein whose holdings included The Beverly Hills Hotel in California. After her father's death, they won a court battle against her sister and brother-in-law over the hotel's ownership.

In 1991, she divorced Boesky and agreed to pay him $23 million and $180,000 a year for life. They had four children.

Boesky smoked Marlboro cigarettes.

In popular culture

The character of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street (1987) is based in part on Boesky, particularly his "greed is good" speech which resembled the commencement speech Boesky delivered in May 1986 at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley: "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself."

Boesky was featured in a CNBC documentary titled Empires of New York.

Boesky was also featured in Titans The Rise of Wall Street on Netflix.

References

References

1. "Wall Street's Greed (In 1987, Flashback NBC News)".
2. Meserve, Myles. "Meet Ivan Boesky, The Infamous Wall Streeter Who Inspired Gordon Gekko". [[Business Insider]].
3. (May 20, 2024). "Ivan Boesky, stock trader convicted in insider trading scandal, dies at 87".
4. "Ivan Boesky: Notorious insider trader who helped inspire Wall Street's Gordon Gekko dies".
5. [http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/text_context/greed_godly The New York Jewish Week: "Is Greed Godly?" by David E. Y. Sarna] {{Webarchive. link. (August 12, 2015 December 3, 2010)
6. [https://www.haaretz.com/news/features/this-day-in-jewish-history/.premium-1.558100 Haaratz: "This Day in Jewish History / A masterful Wall Street con man is arrested – Ivan Boesky elevated insider trading to an art form. The police didn't see it that way, though." by David B. Green] {{Webarchive. link. (April 2, 2015 November 14, 2013)
7. Boesky, Ivan F., ''Merger Mania'', Holt Rinehart Winston, 1985.
8. (October 30, 2010). "Seema Boesky's Rich Afterlife". Westchester Magazine.
9. (November 20, 1986). "The Law of Insider Trading, How They Get Caught, SEC Commissioner Cox Remarks to the Piedmont Economic Club".
10. Cox Speech
11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070326055711/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19861201,00.html Ivan Boesky] at the [[Time (magazine). TIME]] archive
12. (October 10, 2003). "Ivan Boesky – Sam Waksal – Insider Trading – Wall Street".
13. (January 5, 1986). "The Year's 50 most Fascinating Business People: Ivan Boesky, Crook of the Year".
14. Wayne, Leslie. (May 20, 2024). "Ivan F. Boesky, Rogue Trader in 1980s Wall Street Scandal, Dies at 87". The New York Times.
15. Goldman, Ari L. (July 23, 1987). [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/nyregion/boesky-studying-hebrew-and-talmud-at-seminary.html "Boesky Studying Hebrew and Talmud at Seminary"] {{Webarchive. link. (August 23, 2017 . ''[[The New York Times]]''.)
16. (October 8, 2015). "Miracle Babies Patron Party".
17. (January 11, 1993). "Hunting for Ivan Boesky".
18. Dickerson, John F.. (June 24, 2001). "Battling Boeskys".
19. (December 15, 1986). "A $100 Million Idea: Use Greed For Good". Chicago Tribune.
20. "Commencement Speakers". berkeley.edu.
21. Huddleston, Tom Jr.. (November 28, 2020). "Meet Ivan Boesky, the 1980s Wall Street titan who inspired Hollywood — and ended up in jail".
22. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18278410/