I am a fairly devoted watcher of Shark Tank. I am convinced that one day I will have a “million dollar idea,” so I am drawn to the show. I also really like the mix of judges. Mark Cuban, one of the judges on the show and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is in the midst of a trial for insider trading right now. Insider Trading is the trading of securities while in the possession of material nonpublic information. It can be both a crime and a civil violation — here Cuban is only charged with a civil violation by the SEC. He faces significant fines, but no jail time.
Cuban is alleged to have sold all his stock in a Canadian search website, mamma.com, because of inside information he received from the company’s CEO. Although not entirely clear because the trial has just begun, it sounds like Cuban’s defense is that he didn’t believe the information was confidential. It is rare for these cases to go to trial, so it will be very interesting to see how Cuban’s defense pans out.
Do you like Mark Cuban? Do you think he was “cheating” when he sold his shares? Is our stock market fair?
One Comment
Lisa posted on October 6, 2013 at 8:31 pm
I saw this via your twitter and it caught my attention. I am also an avid Shark Tank watcher. Mark Cuban is one of my favorites and I can’t believe he would get caught up in something like this. When I think about it though, I guess it could be fairly easy in reality. I’m not sure I buy the “didn’t believe the information was confidential” story. I’m not one that fully understand the stock market or has an opinion on if it is fair, but it seems like it’s pretty easy to mess up. Invest in stock?.. No thanks. I’ll pass.