Work from home is boon? Man makes $2 million by listening to wife’s office calls

A US man made $2 million by illegally trading after listening to his wife’s conversations with her BP Plc colleagues, as per US Securities and Exchange Commission. Texas based Tyler Loudon bought shares in TravelCenters of America Inc. for months, the SEC said. He later liquidated his brokerage and retirement accounts. In February 2023, when BP announced it was buying TravelCenters of America at a 74% premium, Tyler Loudon made a $1.76 million profit.

But his wife who works as a BP mergers and acquisitions manager, was unaware of his trading, the regulator said.

As per lawsuits, Tyler Loudon got the idea to buy TravelCenters after learning of the potential deal from his wife. She was working on the deal in her home office. Later when he ultimately confessed to her, she moved out of the house and filed for divorce.

The wife reported his trades to BP who then fired her without any evidence that she leaked the deal, as per SEC. In the settlement, Tyler Loudon gave up the money he made on the transactions as well as a fine, Bloomberg reported.

BP’s deal to buy TravelCenters of America Inc. for about $1.3 billion gave the British oil major access to a network of US gas stations. TravelCenters had a network of 281 locations in 44 states at the time.

The SEC has uncovered various insider-trading cases involving information overheard or seen while working from home since it began owing to the Covid pandemic.