What do star golfer Phil Mickelson, corporate raider Carl Icahn and famed Las Vegas gambler William T. Walters have in common? Federal insider trading probes. The trio reportedly are ensnared in a series of investigations led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning trades made based on non-public information—otherwise known as insider information—report the Wall Street Journal (paywall) and New York Times (paywall), both citing people briefed on the probes.
The cast of characters alone makes the story fascinating. Mickelson is one of America’s highest-paid athletes; among active golf players, his feats on the links are eclipsed only by Tiger Woods. Carl Icahn, meanwhile, is a billionaire activist investor known most recently for duking it out with hedge-fund titan Bill Ackman over nutrition company Herbalife. Then there’s Billy Walters, a Kentucky-born bettor in his late ’60s who reportedly rakes in millions a year in sports gambling (paywall).
The FBI and SEC are investigating conspicuously well-timed trades of shares in two consumer goods companies placed by Walters and Mickelson over the last three years, say reports. While one probe is examining whether Icahn tipped off Walters—who reportedly then clued in Mickelson—to potentially market-moving investments before he made them, a separate probe involves only Walters and Mickelson, and not Icahn. Note that just because investigations are underway doesn’t mean the government will bring a case.
Here’s what we know so far based on reports:
