Jury says Cuban did not commit insider trading

10/16/2013

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban walks into the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse for closing arguments with his lawyers, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Dallas. The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Cuban, saying he sold his shares in search engine company Mamma.com after learning privately about a stock offering that would lower the value of the shares. The SEC says Cuban avoided $750,000 in losses. Cuban disputes the SEC's claim that he agreed to keep information about the 2004 stock offering confidential. He also says other investors knew about the offer, and that he did nothing wrong by selling his shares for $7.9 million. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — Jurors said today that billionaire Mark Cuban did not commit insider-trading when he sold his shares in an Internet company in 2004 after learning of a development that would dilute the value of his investment.

The jury in federal district court in Dallas found that the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to prove several key elements of its case, including that Mr. Cuban traded on nonpublic information.

The nine-member jury deliberated for about four hours. The trial spanned three weeks.

The SEC accused Mr. Cuban of using inside information to sell $7.9 million of stock in Mamma.com Inc. after he learned confidentially of a stock offering that would send the share price down. The agency wanted Cuban to repay $750,000 in losses that he avoided, plus pay a penalty. It was a civil lawsuit, so the basketball team owner and regular on the ABC reality show Shark Tank didn’t face criminal charges.

Mr. Cuban testified that he never agreed to keep information about the stock deal private and told the company that he would sell his shares.