A Texas man made nearly $2 million by illegally trading on his wife’s conversations with her BP Plc colleagues, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest case about couples eavesdropping while working from home.
Tyler Loudon had been buying TravelCenters of America Inc. shares for months, according to the SEC. He liquidated his brokerage and retirement accounts, and when BP announced in February 2023 that it would buy TravelCenters of America at a 74% premium, Loudon profited $1.76 million. His wife, a BP mergers and acquisitions manager working on the deal at the time, was unaware of his trading, according to the regulator.
According to lawsuits filed by the SEC and US prosecutors in Texas, Tyler was inspired to buy TravelCenters after learning about the potential deal from his wife, who was working on it in a home office 20 feet away. When he finally confessed to her, she left the house and later filed for divorce. She reported his trades to BP, which fired her despite finding no evidence that she knowingly leaked the deal, according to the SEC.
As part of his settlement, Loudon agreed to forfeit the money he earned from the transactions and pay a fine. Loudon’s lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. BP declined to comment.
The acquisition of TravelCenters of America Inc. for approximately $1.3 billion provided the British oil major with access to a network of US gas stations. At the time of the transaction, TravelCenters had 281 locations in 44 states.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SEC has filed numerous insider-trading cases involving information overheard or seen while working from home with a significant other.
According to the SEC, Loudon’s eavesdropping went international. The SEC claims that while in Rome, Loudon sat next to his wife while she worked on the TravelCenters deal from a small rented apartment.