Martha Stewart's Insider Trading Martha Stewart, the country's leading icon for homemaking artistry, has been in the public eye since June 2002, but not for her cunning or culinary skills. Stewart, on the other hand, has the spotlight on her for insider trading crimes. A tip from her former broker, Peter E. Bacanovic, convinced her to sell her IMClone shares after sharing information about a close friend of Stewart's getting rid of her shares. Stewart's partner, Sam Waksal, was also the CEO of IMClone Systems Inc. IMClone Systems is a well-known company specializing in the research and development of therapies for the treatment of cancer. The stock sale was prompted by an information leak about the Food & Drug Administration's refusal by the pharmaceutical company IMCLONE to apply for the cancer drug Erbitux. Before information reached the public about the FDA's decision and the stock price plummeted, Stewart sold her 3,928 shares of IMClone. Martha sold her shares at $58, and when the news broke, prices dropped to $45, saving the celebrity just $50,000. But the whole situation of the Martha Stewart case is not a question of insider trading but a question of ethics and management in business: it is a question of ethics and of choices that people make between right and wrong and of determining factors that push us to make those choices. While researching this topic I found many interesting topics. One topic that I found very interesting was the fact that a highly qualified executive from Merrill Lynch, one of the world's largest brokerage firms, was Martha Stewart's financial advisor. Another interesting point is that Martha Stewart, the mom of home cooking, a profession based on honesty and founded on motherhood, would lie about the tips she took to earn an extra dollar while she was already a multi-billionaire. After further research I found that the most important point and topic of the whole situation was the fact that even the most perfect and idolized individuals can be manipulated by money or even the thought of more money in the case of Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is now facing charges that could reach up to 20 years in prison and more than $250,000 in fines. Stewart faced many charges; among these were insider trading, conspiracy, false statements, perjury and obstruction of justice. First... half of the document... extensive information on insider trading because Charlie Sheen is a family member of a person who works in the airline industry distributed information about a publicly traded company before it was presented to the public making it officially illegal . It is therefore official insider trading. The next issue is that of a public icon who is a criminal. Many mothers and other people around the world have held Martha Stewart in such a high light and followed her example. This whole aura is ruined by this situation. This is terrible today because so many people today believe what they see today and take to heart everything that is said on television. Furthermore, the Martha Stewart case is truly monumental because it took society's beliefs and corrupted them by eliminating a public icon from the spotlight with criminal charges. Works Cited “Martha: Guilty On All Counts.” Workweek of March 5, 2004: Glassman, James K. “Martha Stewart and Insider Trading.” Capitalism Magazine February 15, 2004: Westfall, Kirk Randall. Telephone interview. March 30, 2004.Mulligan, Thomas S. and Hamilton, Walter. “Martha Stewart Condemned.” Los Angeles Times March 6, 2004, Home Edition: A1.
tags