Steve Cohen

In November 2013, SAC Capital Advisors pled guilty to four counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud — the most sweeping criminal guilty plea by a financial institution for insider trading in US history. SAC admitted to systematically cultivating inside sources across the pharmaceutical and technology industries, generating billions in illegal profits over more than a decade. Total penalty: approximately $1.8 billion. The $1.8 billion remains the largest insider trading settlement in US history.

• —SAC Capital pled guilty to 4 counts of securities fraud + 1 count of wire fraud.
• —$900 million in criminal fines to the DOJ; approximately $616 million in prior civil settlements with the SEC; additional disgorgement and penalties.
• —Prosecutors described SAC Capital as "a magnet for market cheaters" and "a firm with a corrupt culture." Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called it an institution where insider trading was "not an accident but a feature."
• —Eight SAC employees were convicted of or pled guilty to insider trading charges between 2010 and 2013.
• —SAC agreed to stop managing money for outside investors as part of the guilty plea.
• —Cohen was described by prosecutors as "the living, breathing heart of S.A.C. Capital." He was not criminally indicted.

Portfolio manager Mathew Martoma was convicted in 2014 of what prosecutors called "the most profitable insider trading conspiracy ever charged in the history of the United States." The mechanism: Martoma had obtained non-public data on an Alzheimer's drug trial. On July 19, 2008, he emailed Cohen requesting an "important" conversation. They spoke by phone for approximately 20 minutes. The next morning, Cohen directed the sale of SAC's $700M+ position in Elan and Wyeth shares — the firm's largest single stock position. When the trial's negative results became public ten days later, SAC had gained approximately $276 million.

• —July 19, 2008: Martoma emailed Cohen requesting an "important" conversation; they spoke for ~20 minutes.
• —July 20, 2008: Cohen directed liquidation of SAC's ~$700M Elan/Wyeth position — the morning after the call.
• —July 29, 2008: Elan/Wyeth disclosed negative trial results. Shares collapsed. SAC gained approximately $276M ($83M in short profits + $194M in losses avoided).
• —Mathew Martoma: convicted February 2014; sentenced to 9 years federal prison and forfeiture of $9.4M.
• —Prosecutors declined to criminally indict Cohen, calling him "the living, breathing heart of S.A.C. Capital" — the standard being whether Cohen personally knew the information was non-public.
• —Cohen's lawyers argued he did not know the information was non-public. The legal question was never answered at trial for Cohen. The $276M was not.

In January 2016, the SEC settled with Cohen personally for failure to adequately supervise Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg — both convicted of insider trading on his watch. The settlement terms: $135 million personal civil fine, barred from managing outside investor money until 2018. The "failure to supervise" charge is the SEC's legal instrument for accountability when criminal knowledge cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt. The $135M fine was a fraction of the $276M gained on the Martoma trade alone.

• —$135 million personal civil fine — paid to the SEC.
• —2-year bar on managing outside investor money (2016–2018).
• —Michael Steinberg, SAC executive supervised by Cohen: convicted December 2013 for insider trading in Dell and Nvidia shares. 3.5 years prison. His conviction was later dismissed after a Supreme Court ruling raised the bar for downstream-tip cases.
• —"Failure to supervise" is the SEC's statutory mechanism when "we know you knew, but we can't prove it beyond reasonable doubt" — the civil standard below criminal.
• —The asymmetry is documented: eight employees convicted or pled guilty; Cohen paid a fine and waited two years.
• —$135M was approximately 49% of the $276M gained on the Martoma trade alone — and a fraction of the total decade-long profits.

The $1.8 billion settlement was treated as a cost of doing business, not a deterrent. Cohen rebranded SAC Capital as Point72 Asset Management in 2014, continued managing his ~$9 billion personal fortune, waited out his two-year SEC restriction, reopened to outside investors, bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion (the largest price paid for an MLB franchise at the time), and continued accumulating wealth. As of 2026, Point72 manages $45.7 billion. Cohen's net worth is approximately $21.3 billion. No SAC executive served prison time for the firm's systematic decade-long insider trading operation.

• —2014: Rebranded SAC Capital → Point72 Asset Management. No interruption to operations managing Cohen's personal fortune (~$9B).
• —2016: Settled personally with SEC for $135M. Two-year outside-money restriction begins.
• —2018: Restriction expires. Point72 reopens to outside investors.
• —2020: Cohen purchases the New York Mets for $2.4 billion — largest price for an MLB franchise at the time. MLB owners approved 29-1.
• —2024: Net worth ~$21.3B (Forbes, #30 wealthiest Americans).
• —2026: Point72 manages $45.7 billion in assets.
• —The architects of a decade-long insider trading operation, prosecuted by the US government as a criminal enterprise, collectively served zero days in prison — while eight employees bore the legal consequences of the culture they built.