The REAL cost of working from home! Texas husband eavesdropped on high-flying oil exec wife's business calls to net $1.76 MILLION in insider trades
By Alice Wright For Dailymail.Com19:42 GMT 23 Feb 2024 , updated 21:00 GMT 23 Feb 2024
- Tyler Loudon made $1.76 million in illegal profits after listening in to his BP executive wife's phone calls and has been charged with insider trading
- When Loudon's wife, Emily Kraus, discovered his betrayal, she informed her bosses at BP who found she had not acted improperly but fired her anyway
- Loudon, whose wife later filed for divorce, accepted the charges and has agreed to give up the money he made as well as pay a fine
A Texas man who made $1.76 million in illegal profits after eavesdropping on his BP executive wife's phone calls has been charged with insider trading.
Tyler Loudon overheard his wife, Emily Kraus, a mergers and acquisitions manager at BP, conducting internal discussions about the oil conglomerate's planned takeover of TravelCenters of America while she was working from home.
Loudon, who was an energy engineer, proceeded to purchase 46,450 shares of TravelCenters stock, without his wife's knowledge, before the deal was made public in February last year.
When BP announced it was buying TravelCenters of America at a 74 percent premium Loudon immediately sold all of his shares, making a $1.76 million profit, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.
When Kraus discovered his betrayal, she informed her bosses at BP who found she had not acted improperly but fired her anyway. She later filed for divorce.
'We allege that Mr Loudon took advantage of his remote working conditions and his wife's trust to profit from information he knew was confidential' the SEC said in a criminal complaint.
Loudon said he bought the stock, even liquidating his retirement accounts, because 'he wanted to make enough money so that she did not have to work long hours anymore,' according to the filing.
Kraus claimed to have been 'stunned' by her husband's revelation and immediately reported the trading to her supervisor at BP.
Her email and texts were reviewed by BP and it found no evidence that she knowingly leaked the information about the deal to her husband or knew he had bought the shares.
However, BP still decided to fire her.
The now-former BP executive moved out of the couple's home and filed for divorce in June.
Loudon did not deny the allegations and agreed to give up the money he made on the insider trading and pay a penalty.
However, he still faces potential criminal charges and if convicted, could face a prison sentence.
Since the work-from-home era began at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SEC has brought multiple insider-trading cases after partners or spouses overheard confidential information while working from home offices.
According to the SEC, Loudon’s eavesdropping extended abroad. While traveling in Rome, the SEC said Loudon sat nearby his wife while she worked on the TravelCenters deal from a small rented apartment.
BP did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
