US man eavesdropping on wife’s work gets insider trading charge
- Regulator says Houston man Tyler Loudon traded on wife’s chats with BP colleagues
- SEC case is latest involving couples working from home since the Covid-19 pandemic
A Texas man made almost US$2 million by illegally trading on his wife’s conversations with her BP Plc colleagues, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in its latest case about couples eavesdropping while working from home.
For months, Tyler Loudon bought shares in TravelCenters of America Inc, the SEC said on Thursday.
He liquidated his brokerage and retirement accounts and in February 2023, when BP announced it was buying TravelCenters of America at a 74 per cent premium, Loudon made a US$1.76 million profit.
His wife, then a BP mergers and acquisitions manager who was working on the deal, was unaware of his trading, the regulator said.
According to lawsuits from the SEC and US prosecutors in Texas, Tyler got the idea to buy TravelCenters after learning of the potential deal from his wife, who was working on the deal in a home office.
When he ultimately confessed to her, she moved out of the house and later filed for divorce. She reported his trades to BP, who then fired her despite finding no evidence that she knowingly leaked the deal, according to the SEC.