Obituary: Ivan Boesky, failed financier

The man who inspired the famous catchphrase "greed is good" and who helped the US government prosecute one of the largest insider trading scandals in history has died. Ivan Boesky was flamboyant with his wealth well in advance of the flashiest rich-listers in an age of excess. The son of a Detroit delicatessen owner, Boesky invested $US700,000 from his late mother-in-law’s estate and turned it into a $US200 million-plus fortune, escalating himself on to the Forbes rich list. However, his money-making methods were far from scrupulous and Boesky came under federal investigation. Boesky subsequently taped conversations with other Wall Street figures and provided other evidence to attorneys, in exchange for a $US100m fine and 20 months in a minimum-security California prison. After Boesky’s arrest, accounts circulated widely that he had had told business students during a commencement address at the University of California at Berkeley in 1985 or 1986: "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." In Michael Douglas’ Oscar-winning portrayal of Gordon Gekko, a high-flying trader, in Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street that became "greed, for lack of a better word, is good". Boesky claimed he could not remember saying "greed is healthy". Ivan Boesky died on May 20, aged 87. — Agencies