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Vineland Daily Journal – So Mark Cuban — internet billionaire, Dallas Mavericks owner, blogging geyser — is in the soup for alleged insider training, the feds claiming he saved himself $750,000.

That’s chump change. It wouldn’t even pay his NBA fines. But the folks down at the Securities and Exchange Commission can be a little touchy.

The upside to all this, though, is we could well be treated to another episode of one of the more entertaining grudge matches in the public domain.

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Tags: alum, dallas-mavericks-owner, dynamic-company, friendships, movie-stars, new-marketplace, news-press, support-staff, today-announced-that

New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire investor Mark Cuban has been accused of insider trading by the SEC after allegedly using private information that helped him avoid over $750,000 in losses tied to stocks. 

Search engine company Mamma.com supposedly invited Cuban to participate in its offering, but made Cuban swear he would keep the information private.  The lawsuit filed in Dallas claims that Cuban was well aware that his 6 percent stake in the company would be sold below the current market price after learning some inside information.  Cuban allegedly took that information and got rid of all of his shares.

"As we allege in the complaint, Mamma.com entrusted Mr. Cuban with nonpublic information after he promised to keep the information confidential.  Less than four hours later, Mr. Cuban betrayed that trust by placing an order to sell all of his shares," Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement Scott W. Friestad said.  "It is fundamentally unfair for someone to use access to nonpublic information to improperly gain an edge on the market."

In Cuban’s popular blog, blogmaverick.com, the outspoken investor wrote, ““I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions.  The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned.  The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so.”

Cuban has an estimated net worth of close to $3 billion.  In addition to owning the Mavericks, he serves as the Chairman of HDNet, an HDTV cable network. 

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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Tags: alum, brokerages, channel-cable, chief-executive, conglomerate, due-diligence-service, dynamic-company, geffen, investment-banks, richest-americans

New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Another hedge fund is backing Carl Icahn’s proxy battle against Yahoo, days after Paulson & Co. gave their support.

Third Point LLC, a hedge fund that manages $5.7 billion in assets, is believed to be on board after accumulating 5 million shares of Yahoo Inc., along with T. Boone Pickens, an oil investor who has amassed 10 million shares.

An undisclosed source told reporters that Third Point head Dan Loeb “strongly supports Icahn and supports his slate and thinks that he is shining a bright light on the botched process at the Yahoo board in negotiating the deal with Microsoft.”

Icahn believes that Yahoo should be sold to Microsoft, in order to better compete with Google. Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s initial offer of $47.5 billion before the software giant broke off talks earlier this month.

Initiating his fight last Thursday, Icahn believes, “it is quite obvious that Microsoft’s bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo’s prospects on a standalone basis." Talks between Microsoft and Yahoo are said to have been revived.

Paulson & Co., the $30 billion hedge fund manned by famed John Paulson, currently holds 50 million shares in Yahoo. Paulson has expressed his desire for the merger, aligning himself with Icahn last week.

Hedge funds, who push for high returns in the short run, many times take a proactive approach in restructuring a company in which they are invested. Icahn is also aiming to strategically place himself, along with Mark Cuban, Frank Biondi and Robert Shaye on the board.

Even with only a few companies backing the proxy battle, the force behind them is monumental. The supporters will have accumulated over 80 million shares of Yahoo, which equates to over 5% of the total shares.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com

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Tags: board-slate, chief-executive, dan-hesse, due-diligence-service, dynamic-company, frank-biondi, future-stock, john-mccain, mark-cuban, market-disruptions, microsoft-corp, mutual-fund-company, sharkwatch