According to multiple reports on Monday morning, Mark Cuban has been charged with insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. A report in the Wall Street Journal indicated Cuban sold 600,000 shares of Mamma.com “upon learning it was raising money in a private offering.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC “alleges in a civil action that Mr. Cuban sold his entire 6% ownership stake on June 28, 2004, after leaning that Mamma.com was raising money through a private investment in a public entity, or PIPE. The next day, on June 29, the company announced the PIPE financing and shares of the company dropped by more that 10%.”
The SEC claims that selling his stake, Cuban “avoided more than $750,000 in losses.” As of 11:25am C.T., reports are still surfacing but XM Radio stated upon learning the news that this charge by the SEC will take Mark Cuban out of the running to by the Chicago Cubs and that Major League Baseball will not approve his purchase of the club after learning this news.
Major League Baseball has not made a statement concerning the charges.