Boesky was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1937 as the son of Russian immigrants. His father was a top restaurateur in the city. Although he didn’t graduate from any of the colleges, Boesky took courses at Wayne State University, University of Michigan, and Eastern Michigan University. Later in 1964, he earned a law degree from the Detroit School of Law. After briefly working in Michigan as a law clerk and accountant, he moved to New York in 1966. Here, Boesky worked on Wall Street as a securities analyst for various stock brokerage companies.
In 1975, Boesky established his own arbitrage firm called Ivan F. Boesky & Company. His father-in-law Ben Silberstein, who was a real-estate magnate himself, provided him with financial assistance. Starting with $700,000, Boesky grew his company very successfully and attracted several buy-in investments from new partners. Because of his astuteness as an arbitrageur, he earned the nickname “Ivan the Terrible.” By the 1980s, he amassed approximately $200 million by betting on corporate buyouts and mergers. He also earned $136 million from the sale of The Beverly Hills Hotel. Along with his fellow corporate financiers, like T. Boone Pickens, Boesky advantageously used the gap between public and private market values when raiding corporate targets. This practice was legal as long as the trading was based on public knowledge of acquisitions.
Boesky’s downfall started in 1986 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) followed an investigation trail that led to Dennis Levine. After being found guilty, Levine made a deal with the authorities and turned his partner Boesky in. Upon investigation, it was apparent that Boesky would often make significant purchases just days before corporations publicly announced their takeovers. These “lucky” purchases would bring Boesky very substantial financial rewards. As there was significant evidence that he was involved in illegal insider trading, Boesky entered a guilty plea in November 1986. Just months before this, he had delivered a speech at Berkeley's commencement where he praised greed as a positive thing. The main character from the 1987 movie Wall Street even stole Boesky’s infamous line from the speech: "greed is good."
After pleading guilty, Boesky agreed to help the SEC with its ongoing investigation. He wore a wire to expose his fellow corporate insiders and takeover specialists. Boesky helped with the takedown of Michael Milken and his firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert. In exchange for cooperating with the feds, Boesky received a lighter sentence that included 3.5 years in prison, a $100 million fine, and a lifelong ban from the securities industry. Despite the bargain, this was still the longest prison sentence yet for a case related to insider trading. Boesky was released after serving 2 years at the Lompoc Federal Prison Camp in California. With his leftover money, including payouts from his divorce, Boesky bought a house in La Jolla where he still lives today.
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I found the connection to the movie Wall Street particularly interesting, as I had watched it earlier this week without knowing any context to the 80’s (Good movie, by the way. I would recommend watching). After watching the documentaries shown in class, I finally realized many of the real-world events that the movie was based on. Gekko, the investing powerhouse in the movie, was based on Michael Milken as well as Boesky, as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated, but I also recognized Milken as one of the people that Trump has pardoned—I think it’s really cool how all the pieces of scattered information are fitting in together now.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/18/trump-pardons-michael-milken-face-of-1980s-financial-scandals.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gordon-gekko.asp