A Silicon Valley heavyweight has been charged with insider trading by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.of using his knowledge of Cisco's 2019 acquisition of Acacia Communications to buy options in Acacia using the accounts of a close relative and associate.
The SEC alleges Bechtolsheim"immediately" acquired Acacia option contracts when learning of the pending purchase by Cisco, which earned him $415,726 in profit when markets opened and Acacia shares rose 35 percent on news of the purchase.The complaint alleges that Bechtolsheim"knew or was reckless in not knowing" that the information he was given was non-public, and that he had a duty to keep that information confidential.