Ivan Boesky died last week at the age of 87. Boesky, son of Russian Jewish immigrants, obtained his law degree but then worked in finance at a number of companies including L.F. Rothschild. He then started his own brokerage firm, Ivan F. Boesky & Company. He eventually amassed a huge fortune, in particular by betting on corporate takeovers. He also was successful in many financial dealings as a result of huge sums in cash which he paid others for inside information which he used to guide his investing. In 1986 he pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading, for which he served two years in prison and was permanently barred from working in the securities industry. The character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street was in part based on Boesky, in particular the “greed is good” speech which Gekko delivers, similar to Boesky’s 1986 commencement speech at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley where he stated, “Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.” What else is true about Ivan Boesky?

US Penitentiary, Lompoc [where Ivan Boesky served his prison term] by Federal Bureau of Prisons is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons

A. Boesky once attended a bar mitzvah party on the Queen Elizabeth 2 yacht; he arrived too late for the boat’s departure, so instead he descended onto the boat at sea in a helicopter.

B. The investigation of Boesky’s insider trading was spearheaded by U. S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani. Boesky ultimately cooperated with Giuliani, providing information that led to the indictment of Michael Milken. Boesky went on to support Giuliani in his 2008 campaign for president, with rumors that Giuliani intended to appoint Boesky as chair of the Federal Reserve.

C. After his release from prison, Boesky’s personal connection to Judaism grew. He donated a significant amount of money to establish a support program for Jews incarcerated in the federal prison system. The program, called Boesky’s Atonement, provided prayer books, kosher food, and holiday items for those in need.

D. When Boesky divorced his first wife, Seema Silberstein, she agreed to pay him a $20 million settlement, plus $180,000/year for life.

E. After Boesky finished his prison term, he enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary. However, not convinced that he had truly atoned, the faculty declined to give him smicha, his rabbinical ordination. As a result, he incorporated his own seminary and awarded himself smicha, thereafter referring to himself as the Boesker Rebbe.

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