- Tyler Loudon made $1.76 million in illegal profits after listening 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 that she had not acted improperly but fired her anyway.
- Loudon, whose wife later filed for divorce, accepted the charges and agreed to forfeit the money he won and pay a fine.
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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 listened to his wife, Emily Kraus, BP’s mergers and acquisitions manager, conduct internal discussions about the oil conglomerate’s planned acquisition of TravelCenters of America while she worked from home.
Loudon, who was an energy engineer, proceeded to purchase 46,450 TravelCenters shares, without his wife’s knowledge, before the deal became public in February of last year.
When BP announced it would buy TravelCenters of America at a 74 percent premium, Loudon immediately sold all of his shares, making a profit of $1.76 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.
When Kraus discovered her betrayal, she informed her bosses at BP, who found that she had not acted improperly, but fired her anyway. She later filed for divorce.
Tyler Loudon (right) made $1.76 million in illegal profits after eavesdropping on his BP executive wife’s (left) phone calls.
Emily Kraus, BP’s mergers and acquisitions manager, was fired from her job
Loudon (left) accepted charges of insider trading and agreed to pay a fine.
“We allege that Mr. Loudon took advantage of his remote work conditions and his wife’s trust to benefit from information he knew was confidential,” the SEC said in a criminal complaint.
Loudon said she bought the shares, even liquidating her retirement accounts, because “she wanted to earn enough money so that she no longer had to work long hours,” according to the document.
Kraus claimed to have been “shocked” by her husband’s revelation and immediately reported the deal to her supervisor at BP.
BP reviewed her email and text messages and found no evidence that she had knowingly leaked information about the deal to her husband or that she knew he had purchased the shares.
However, BP decided to fire her.
Emily Kraus worked for BP in Houston, Texas, before being fired after her husband committed insider trading.
The couple lived together in a $630,000 home in suburban Houston, Texas, before separating in 2023.
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 forfeit the money he earned from insider trading and pay a fine.
However, he still faces possible 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 filed multiple insider trading cases after partners or spouses overheard confidential information while working from their headquarters.
According to the SEC, Loudon’s wiretapping extended overseas. While traveling in Rome, the SEC said Loudon sat near 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.