Ivan Boesky, stock trader convicted in insider trading scandal, dead at 87

Ivan F. Boesky, the flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street, has died at the age of 87.

A representative at the Marianne Boesky Gallery, owned by Ivan Boesky's daughter, confirmed his death. No other details were given.

The son of a Detroit delicatessen owner, Boesky was once considered one of the richest and most influential risk-takers on Wall Street. He built a fortune estimated at more than $200 million, hurtling him into the ranks of Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans.

Once implicated in insider trading, Boesky cooperated with authorities in a bid for leniency, uncovering a scandal that shattered promising careers, blemished some of the most respected U.S. investment brokerages and injected a certain paranoia into the securities industry.

Working undercover, Boesky secretly taped three conversations with Michael Milken, the so-called "junk bond king" whose work with Drexel Burnham Lambert had revolutionized the credit markets. Milken eventually pleaded guilty to six felonies and served 22 months in prison, while Boesky paid a $100 million fine and spent 20 months in a minimum-security California prison nicknamed "Club Fed," beginning in March 1988.

- The Associated Press

- The Associated Press