Pfizer’s Bid to Recoup Millions Denied by Federal Judge
In a significant ruling, a federal judge has rejected Pfizer’s attempt to recover approximately $75.2 million remaining from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settlement with SAC Capital Management, a hedge fund founded by billionaire Steven A. Cohen.
The Background of the Case
The dispute stems from a $602 million civil settlement related to insider trading in Wyeth and Elan, two pharmaceutical companies. Mathew Martoma, an SAC employee, was convicted of using tips from a neurologist about a 2008 Alzheimer’s drug trial to engage in illegal trading activities. SAC pleaded guilty to fraud in 2013 and paid $1.8 billion in settlements to the SEC and other authorities.
Pfizer’s Claim Rejected
Pfizer argued that it was entitled to the $75.2 million because the neurologist, Sidney Gilman, had breached his fiduciary duty to Wyeth, where he was a consultant. However, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that Wyeth did not qualify as a victim of the securities violations underlying the SEC case, and therefore was not entitled to the funds.
Reputational Harm vs. Financial Harm
Judge Marrero emphasized that while corporations whose secrets are misappropriated for insider trading purposes are generally victims of wrongdoing, Pfizer failed to demonstrate how the insider trading scheme and Wyeth’s subsequent reputational harm constituted financial harm. The judge noted that a $7 billion decline in Wyeth’s market value following the drug trial was unrelated to the insider trading scheme, which became public three years later.
The Fate of the Funds
As a result of the ruling, the $75.2 million will be paid to the U.S. Treasury, as requested by the SEC. Pfizer and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Impact on Cohen and SAC Capital
Steven A. Cohen, the founder of SAC Capital, was not criminally charged but accepted a two-year ban on managing outside money to end an SEC probe into his supervision of Martoma. He renamed SAC Capital Point72 Asset Management in 2014 and stopped trading for that fund in September. Cohen’s net worth is estimated to be $21.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
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