Hedge Fund Manager Fined £7.2m For Insider Trading

Along with his hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, Einhorn was fined for trading shares in Punch Tavern while in possession of insider information. 

Back in June 2009 Einhorn gave instructions to sell Greenlight's entire 13pc stake in Punch moments after being told the company was to embark on a “significant” equity raising.

Before the fundraising was announced 11.7m shares in Punch were sold, scaling back Greenlight's holding from 13.3pc to 8.9pc. The move helped Greenlight avoid a loss of £5.9m when Punch's shares fell 30pc after news of the fund raising become public, according to the FSA.

Mr Einhorn says he was not aware he was in possession of insider information and described the fine as “unjust” and “inconsistent with the law” but he has elected to pay the money “rather than continue an arduous fight”.

Well known in Wall St for making millions from shorting Lehman Brothers, Einhorn was both praised and criticised when in 2008 he used a public press conference to question the financial stability while shorting shares of the company in the background.

He is also a skilled poker player. He finished 18th in the 2006 World Series of Poker and donated his $650,000 winnings to the The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which contributes to research into Parkinson's disease.

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