The US Prosecutors’ case against SAC Capital Advisors LP brings up multiple questions about what exactly is being taught to business school students in terms of ethics.  For those unfamiliar with the case, Steven Cohen has been one of the most successful hedge fund managers in the US, routinely earning more than $1 billion per year.  With a work environment that allegedly promoted results above all other considerations, with only token nods towards governance and ethics, SAC is accused of using insider information to trade in public companies. The result was “insider trading that was substantial, pervasive and on a scale without known precedent in the hedge fund industry,” the indictment said. (1) Although Cohen has not personally been charged, his firm is in danger of being brought down.  SAC is one more Wall Street firm to show that it values money over all other considerations – there have been 70 convictions and guilty pleas on Wall Street over the past 7 years.

No wonder Warren Buffet said this:
If a graduating MBA were to ask me, ‘How do I get rich in a hurry?’ I would not respond with quotations from Ben Franklin or Horatio Alger, but would, instead, hold my nose with one hand and point with the other toward Wall Street. (2)

Works Cited
1.Herbst-Bayliss, Emily Flitter, Svea, and Jonathan Stempel. “U.S. Charges SAC Capital with Insider Trading Crimes.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 25 July 2013. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.

2. “Warren Buffett Quotes.” Warren Buffett Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.

1 Reuters.com web site

2 Quoteswise.com