by Tom Hardin

“It is one of the biggest mysteries on Wall Street: Who is Tipper X, the secret witness at the center of the biggest insider-trading case in a generation? The answer is Thomas Hardin — a young investment analyst who, the authorities claim, traded on inside information and may now lead prosecutors to other crucial players…” – New York Times, January 12, 2010

In 2007, while working at a small hedge fund as a 29-year-old technology stock analyst, I received material nonpublic information (MNPI) from another investor on four occasions; three tips regarding upcoming corporate M&A deals and one tip with information about a company’s quarterly earnings announcement. I placed four trades in those shares (in my mind “small” trades). I did not hesitate to make the trades as trading on MNPI seemed rampant within the technology and healthcare stock analyst communities at the time. One well-regarded tech stock focused hedge fund had several of their largest 2006 winning positions as targets of corporate takeovers. Ultimately, my faulty rationalizations led to a career ending, life-altering situation. In July 2008, I was approached by FBI agents on the street outside my apartment and given the chance to help them build larger cases. I became known as “Tipper X” and was credited with helping the FBI build over 20 of the 80+ cases in Operation Perfect Hedge, a Wall Street house cleaning campaign that morphed into the largest insider trading investigation of a generation. Continue reading →