BP Executive's Husband Found Guilty of Insider Trading $1.8 Million Using Wife's Confidential Calls

Fraud

February 26, 2024 - Reading time: 2 minutes

A former BP merger and acquisitions manager's husband has pleaded guilty to securities fraud related to insider trading by eavesdropping on his wife's work calls while she was handling a potential acquisition of TravelCenters of America.

Tyler Loudon, a Houston resident, earned $1.76 million with the illicit trades based on nonpublic knowledge of the possible acquisition at his wife's company.

Loudon is due to be sentenced May 17 and faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit the $1.76 million of illegal profits. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Loudon related to the same conduct, which he did not contest.

In 2022, while working remotely in earshot of his wife during pandemic-era work-from-home policies, Loudon learned of BP's confidential plans to acquire TravelCenters. In December 2022, Loudon secretly listened to his wife's private work calls discussing the acquisition while they were working remotely in a small Airbnb during a trip to Rome.

Over the next few months, Loudon accumulated 46,450 shares of TravelCenters without telling his wife. To buy these shares, he sold all positions in his brokerage account and Roth IRA, totaling over $2 million. When TravelCenters announced the BP acquisition on February 16, 2023, triggering its 71% stock jump, Loudon sold all of his shares, profiting $1.76 million.

However, in March, when a former BP employee who had worked on the acquisition contacted Loudon's wife about disclosing personal details to comply with FINRA regulations, she informed her husband. A week later, he admitted to insider trading to make enough money so that his wife did not have to work long hours anymore.

Loudon's wife reported her husband's insider trading to her BP supervisor but was later fired from the company. She filed for divorce in June, according to the SEC complaint.

DW Staff

David Lintott is the Editor-in-Chief, leading our team of talented freelance journalists. He specializes in covering culture, sport, and society. Originally from the decaying seaside town of Eastbourne, he attributes his insightful world-weariness to his roots in this unique setting.

Tyler Loudon

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