Rene Rivkin

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Rene Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was an Australian entrepreneur, stockbroker, and investment adviser. He was the country's best known stockbroker, and one of its most successful until his conviction for insider trading and subsequent suicide.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Conviction for insider trading 4 Death 5 Biography 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Early life

Rivkin was born in Shanghai, China to Russian Jewish parents. They made fortunes in Shanghai and had links with the East India Company^{[citation needed]} . The family emigrated to Australia in 1951. Rivkin attended Sydney Boys High School and completed a law degree from the University of Sydney. He went on to become the youngest ever member of the Sydney Stock Exchange.

[edit] Career

Rivkin became Australia's most famous stockbroker and published the Rivkin Report, in which he would advise what stocks to buy and sell, and provide market analysis.

With his flamboyant lifestyle and extravagant collections of art and classic cars and an impressive motor yacht, Rivkin was famous for his personality as much as his achievements. He was usually portrayed with worry-beads and smoking a cigar. He was believed to suffer from bipolar disorder. [1]

Rivkin sold his share of stockbroking firm Rivkin James Capel after an operation to remove a tumour, and the 1987 stockmarket collapse.

[edit] Conviction for insider trading

In April, 2003, following a long running investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), he was found guilty of insider trading after having purchased 50,000 Qantas shares which resulted in a $346 profit. He was charged with using confidential and market-sensitive information with regards to an impending merger of Qantas and Impulse Airlines. He bought - on behalf of Rivkin Investments - 50,000 Qantas shares on April 24, 2001, just hours after speaking to the executive chairman of Impulse, Gerry McGowan.

Rivkin and his supporters say the the conviction was unfair, arguing that he had selectively prosecuted over the trades involving a very small profit and that the only reason the conviction succeeded in spite of only circumstantial evidence was because of his high profile. Generally market traders will sell the shares of intending acquirer companies and buy the stock of target companies in mergers and acquisitions and in Rivkin's case, he purchase shares in Qantas, the acquirer. As a result, his conviction continues to be controversial in Sydney business circles.

Rivkin was sentenced to nine months periodic detention on weekends. His sentence was delayed so he could undergo urgent surgery for a meningioma. His period of custody was punctuated with time served at Long Bay Psychiatric Hospital. After serving two days of his sentence at Sydney's Silverwater Correctional Centre, Rivkin collapsed and was hospitalised. While there were media accusations that he was trying to avoid jail by feigning illness, Rivkin was treated in hospital for pancreatitis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and major depression^{[citation needed]}. More controversy followed when a fellow detainee was paid by The Sun-Herald newspaper to illegally smuggle in a mobile phone and take photos of Rivkin. Rivkin's health concerns meant weekend detention stints were often delayed for weeks at a time.

At the same time, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian Tax Office continued investigating Rivkin's shareholdings relating to the Offset Alpine affair.

[edit] Death

Banned for life from having a stockbroking licence following the serving of his sentence, Rivkin lived quietly in his Point Piper mansion. He later moved to the Darling Point penthouse apartment home of his elderly mother and was found dead there on 1 May 2005, and was believed to have killed himself. Rivkin is survived by his former wife Gayle and five children, Damien, Jordan, Shannon, Dion and Tara. Two of his sons continue to operate the Rivkin Group in Sydney.

In a 2001 60 Minutes interview he had expressed his desire to be cremated, saying he 'didn't want his family coming to worship a piece of concrete' and so he was cremated.

[edit] Biography

• Main, Andrew (2005) Rivkin, Unauthorised: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of an Unorthodox. HarperCollins: Sydney. ISBN 0-7322-8089-3

[edit] See also

• List of insider traders

[edit] External links

• The Rivkin Report
• Rivkin found guilty of insider trading
• Rivkin sentenced for insider trading
• Rene Rivkin found dead