(Reuters) – Ivan Boesky, a financier who was a central figure in the insider trading scandals of the 1980s, has died at age 87, the New York Times reported on Monday.
Boesky, who partly inspired the character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film “Wall Street,” was considered at his peak a genius at risk arbitrage, the business of speculating on takeover stocks, and was worth an estimated $280 million.
But the US Securities and Exchange Commission proved that he received information from investment bankers about upcoming deals and used it illegally before the information was made public.
He won leniency by cooperating with the government’s investigation of insider trading rings and reportedly taped conversations with his business contacts.
Boesky’s death was confirmed to The New York Times by Boesky’s daughter, Marianne Boesky.