We've been hearing about Hillary's insider trading sin (from the "liberal media") for years and years now but this will no doubt hit the trash faster than Linda Tripp's beauty secrets. I wonder if he feels like sharing any of that with those investors from the Silverado Savings and Loan. Mmmmmm, Naaaah, probably not!
Houston Chronicle article
WASHINGTON -- Cashing in stock options before the market crashed, presidential brother Neil Bush made at least $171,370 in a single day by buying and selling shares in a small U.S. high-tech firm where he had previously been a consultant, according to tax returns that give a glimpse into his business dealings.
The July 19, 1999 purchase and quick sale of stock from Kopin Corp. of Taunton, Mass., came on a day that the company received good news about a new Asian client that sent its stock value soaring.
"My timing on this transaction was very fortunate," Bush told The Associated Press.
Bush's profit was a slice of at least $798,218 that the president's younger brother reported on his tax returns from three transactions involving Kopin's stock.
AP obtained his tax returns for the years 1997 through 2001 from a source familiar with his finances.
Those returns, as well as records that have come to light in Bush's divorce case, show that since his controversial tenure with the failed Colorado savings and loan Silverado more than a decade ago, he has become a globe-trotting businessman with a variety of consulting deals.
For instance, a Chinese firm, Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. of Shanghai, offered to pay Bush $2 million in stock for his consulting services, but Bush told AP he has "not received one penny of compensation" because he never did the consulting.
Bush's tax returns also show $357,000 in income from his company, Ignite!, which is developing interactive, multimedia lessons for students.
One of the most prominent financial transactions on his returns are the stock sales involving Kopin. Bush attributed his success in trading Kopin stock to good financial advice, adding he experienced losses as well as gains.
Regarding the July 19, 1999 sale, "my timing on this transaction was very fortunate and much better than most of my other trades," Bush said in an e-mail to AP. "Because you have some of my tax returns, you may notice the losses I have taken in the post-bubble market."
Bush recorded nearly $300,000 in losses from the sale of Kopin stock in late 2000 and 2001 when the stock market began sliding after the technology boom of the 1990s.
But unlike the ordinary investor who buys at the market price, Bush benefited from the fact that his stock purchase costs in some cases were minimal because he got a bargain, paying $13 a share when he exercised stock options from Kopin that were part of his consulting compensation from the company. Kopin granted him 20,000 stock options.
Kopin manufactures high-speed transistors used in cell phones and also produces tiny liquid crystal displays for use in consumer electronics such as camcorders and digital cameras.
The firm's electronic viewfinders are used in thermal weapons sights and a small amount of the company's business is with the government, which has provided Kopin with tens of millions of dollars in research money over the past decade.
Bush's big paydays stem from his role in 1995 as the intermediary who helped broker a deal that got an Asian company, Telecom Holdings, to invest $27 million in Kopin.
"Neil helped put together an approximately $27 million deal and was awarded stock options for his efforts. Stock options can range from anywhere to being utterly worthless to very valuable," Bush lawyer John Spalding said. "A realtor in a similar deal would have made three times as much money and it would have been paid at closing. Neil eventually made around $500,000 in compensation for his work that was not guaranteed."
After the 1995 deal, Kopin snapped Bush up as a consultant for two years "to see what other doors he could open up for us" in Asia, according to Kopin chief financial officer Richard Sneider.
"Neil Bush was a matchmaker and he was given stock options in Kopin as part of his compensation," Sneider explained. "Our executives were pleased with his hard work on the Asian investment."
Kopin's CFO said "I don't know whether Neil made any introductions to anybody" during his two years of consulting, but Sneider said "there were no further equity investments" like the $27 million deal Bush arranged in 1995.
On Dec. 2, 1998, three weeks after Kopin reported the first profit in its 14-year history, Bush bought 10,000 shares of Kopin stock for $140,000. He sold it a year later for $692,053.
On July 19, 1999, The Wall Street Journal published a story saying that a Japanese video camera company had started using tiny liquid crystal display viewfinders manufactured by Kopin.
The newspaper called the deal "a surprising win for the U.S. flat-panel-display industry." The company officially announced the deal after The Journal hit the street.
Bush said his financial adviser at Wells Fargo recommended shortly after 9 a.m. that he exercise the option to buy 15,000 shares of Kopin stock and immediately sell.
"I did," Bush said. Kopin stock opened that morning at $28.62. Bush sold at $33.25. Bush sold the stock for $495,745 and he listed his cost on his tax return as $324,375.
Bush said he did not have any inside information from Kopin, and simply acted on the advice of his adviser. "Any increase in the price of the stock on that day was purely coincidental, meaning that I did not have any improper information," he said.
"My financial adviser ... recalls that I had instructed her to keep an eye out for an opportune time to exercise the options to buy 15,000 shares of Kopin stock as early as March of 1999," three months before the July transaction, Bush said.
At the end of January 2000, with the stock market nearing its peak and Kopin's stock at over $70 a share, Bush moved into the market again. Five months later, he reported a gain of $74,795 on the sale of 4,000 shares, but he hung onto another 13,150 shares, eventually reporting losses of $287,722.
Houston Chronicle article
WASHINGTON -- Cashing in stock options before the market crashed, presidential brother Neil Bush made at least $171,370 in a single day by buying and selling shares in a small U.S. high-tech firm where he had previously been a consultant, according to tax returns that give a glimpse into his business dealings.
The July 19, 1999 purchase and quick sale of stock from Kopin Corp. of Taunton, Mass., came on a day that the company received good news about a new Asian client that sent its stock value soaring.
"My timing on this transaction was very fortunate," Bush told The Associated Press.
Bush's profit was a slice of at least $798,218 that the president's younger brother reported on his tax returns from three transactions involving Kopin's stock.
AP obtained his tax returns for the years 1997 through 2001 from a source familiar with his finances.
Those returns, as well as records that have come to light in Bush's divorce case, show that since his controversial tenure with the failed Colorado savings and loan Silverado more than a decade ago, he has become a globe-trotting businessman with a variety of consulting deals.
For instance, a Chinese firm, Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. of Shanghai, offered to pay Bush $2 million in stock for his consulting services, but Bush told AP he has "not received one penny of compensation" because he never did the consulting.
Bush's tax returns also show $357,000 in income from his company, Ignite!, which is developing interactive, multimedia lessons for students.
One of the most prominent financial transactions on his returns are the stock sales involving Kopin. Bush attributed his success in trading Kopin stock to good financial advice, adding he experienced losses as well as gains.
Regarding the July 19, 1999 sale, "my timing on this transaction was very fortunate and much better than most of my other trades," Bush said in an e-mail to AP. "Because you have some of my tax returns, you may notice the losses I have taken in the post-bubble market."
Bush recorded nearly $300,000 in losses from the sale of Kopin stock in late 2000 and 2001 when the stock market began sliding after the technology boom of the 1990s.
But unlike the ordinary investor who buys at the market price, Bush benefited from the fact that his stock purchase costs in some cases were minimal because he got a bargain, paying $13 a share when he exercised stock options from Kopin that were part of his consulting compensation from the company. Kopin granted him 20,000 stock options.
Kopin manufactures high-speed transistors used in cell phones and also produces tiny liquid crystal displays for use in consumer electronics such as camcorders and digital cameras.
The firm's electronic viewfinders are used in thermal weapons sights and a small amount of the company's business is with the government, which has provided Kopin with tens of millions of dollars in research money over the past decade.
Bush's big paydays stem from his role in 1995 as the intermediary who helped broker a deal that got an Asian company, Telecom Holdings, to invest $27 million in Kopin.
"Neil helped put together an approximately $27 million deal and was awarded stock options for his efforts. Stock options can range from anywhere to being utterly worthless to very valuable," Bush lawyer John Spalding said. "A realtor in a similar deal would have made three times as much money and it would have been paid at closing. Neil eventually made around $500,000 in compensation for his work that was not guaranteed."
After the 1995 deal, Kopin snapped Bush up as a consultant for two years "to see what other doors he could open up for us" in Asia, according to Kopin chief financial officer Richard Sneider.
"Neil Bush was a matchmaker and he was given stock options in Kopin as part of his compensation," Sneider explained. "Our executives were pleased with his hard work on the Asian investment."
Kopin's CFO said "I don't know whether Neil made any introductions to anybody" during his two years of consulting, but Sneider said "there were no further equity investments" like the $27 million deal Bush arranged in 1995.
On Dec. 2, 1998, three weeks after Kopin reported the first profit in its 14-year history, Bush bought 10,000 shares of Kopin stock for $140,000. He sold it a year later for $692,053.
On July 19, 1999, The Wall Street Journal published a story saying that a Japanese video camera company had started using tiny liquid crystal display viewfinders manufactured by Kopin.
The newspaper called the deal "a surprising win for the U.S. flat-panel-display industry." The company officially announced the deal after The Journal hit the street.
Bush said his financial adviser at Wells Fargo recommended shortly after 9 a.m. that he exercise the option to buy 15,000 shares of Kopin stock and immediately sell.
"I did," Bush said. Kopin stock opened that morning at $28.62. Bush sold at $33.25. Bush sold the stock for $495,745 and he listed his cost on his tax return as $324,375.
Bush said he did not have any inside information from Kopin, and simply acted on the advice of his adviser. "Any increase in the price of the stock on that day was purely coincidental, meaning that I did not have any improper information," he said.
"My financial adviser ... recalls that I had instructed her to keep an eye out for an opportune time to exercise the options to buy 15,000 shares of Kopin stock as early as March of 1999," three months before the July transaction, Bush said.
At the end of January 2000, with the stock market nearing its peak and Kopin's stock at over $70 a share, Bush moved into the market again. Five months later, he reported a gain of $74,795 on the sale of 4,000 shares, but he hung onto another 13,150 shares, eventually reporting losses of $287,722.
