Black Edge
Weston Magazine|Issue 60

The Fall of SAC Capital.

Sheelah kolhatkar
Black Edge

ONE EVENING IN JULY 2008, FBI Special Agent B. J. Kang sat hunched over a desk with headphones on, listening to a phone call. It was dark outside, and he hadn’t eaten dinner. His stomach growled. “Raj, you better listen to me,” a woman said in a soft, breathy voice. “Please don’t fuck me on this.”

“Yeah,” a male voice said.

“They’re gonna guide down,” the woman said. Guide down,Kang knew, was a common Wall Street term that meant the company was planning to announce that its earnings were going to be lower than expected— definitely bad news; the “they” was an $800 million Internet company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, called Akamai Technologies. “I just got a call from my guy. I played him like a finely tuned piano.”

“I’m short it, you know that, right?” the man said.

“I want you to be on top,” the woman purred. “We need to be a team.” She wasn’t talking about sex, at least not this time. This was about money. “Let’s just play this thing. Just keep shorting, every day.”

Who was this woman? Kang thought to himself. She sounded cartoonishly conspiratorial. Kang listened and took notes. He was in the FBI’s “wire room,” a windowless den housing fourteen vintage Dell computers and an assortment of mismatched office furniture on the twenty-fourth floor of 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, home of the Bureau’s New York field office. Along one wall was a metal shelf loaded with granola bars, Goldfish crackers, and Kit Kats—sustenance for the agents who spent hours there each day, monitoring live phone calls.

This story is from the Issue 60 edition of Weston Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Issue 60 edition of Weston Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM WESTON MAGAZINEView All
Chicken Mcmansions
Weston Magazine

Chicken Mcmansions

There’s nothing like fresh eggs. I know because our cook used three of them in my Camembert omelet this morning. 

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 60
Hamptons International Film Festival's Silver Anniversary
Weston Magazine

Hamptons International Film Festival's Silver Anniversary

LIGHTS! Camera! Action! It’s hard to believe the Hamptons International Film Festival (off this) is celebrating a quarter century of showcasing great works in film. 

time-read
4 mins  |
Issue 60
A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Shemin…a Century Long Odyssey
Weston Magazine

A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Shemin…a Century Long Odyssey

I am in the east room of the White House on June 2, 2015 for what is turning out to be the most amazing family reunion I could ever have imagined.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 60
Weston Magazine

Breaking The Fourth And Fifth Wall

Dear Evan Hansen began as a germ of an idea about the yearning for a connection with others; co-lyricist and writer Benj Pasek was considering the embellished ties his teenaged peers had to a suspected victim of suicide.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 61
Weston Magazine

The Heirs

Eleanor belonged to that class of New Yorker whose bloodlines were traced in the manner of racehorses: she was Phipps (sire) out of Deering (dam), by Livingston (sire’s dam) and Porter (dam’s dam).

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 61
Weston Magazine

One Atlantic Events

Over the ocean, your perfect special event venue is waiting.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 61
Weston Magazine

Scott Swimming Pools

Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. is a luxury design-build swimming pool company celebrating its 80th year in business this year.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 61
Is Marijuana The New Ambien?
Weston Magazine

Is Marijuana The New Ambien?

Science and anecdote in the quest for better sleep 

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 59
Black Edge
Weston Magazine

Black Edge

The Fall of SAC Capital.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 60
Brain Fitness - It's All In Your Mind
Weston Magazine

Brain Fitness - It's All In Your Mind

Frozen in mid-sentence, you forget a name. With your pen poised over a check, you cannot recall the date. You’ve gone into the kitchen, but you can no longer remember what for. And where is that damned cell phone? Are you one of the worried well? Many of us are anxious to live a long life, but fearful of our potential for the humiliation and debilitation of dementia. What to do? Should you try a computer game? Magnesium tablets? A week at an expensive brain training center? Brain fitness is the new buzzword and wealthy aging baby boomers are eager to buy a healthier brain.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 60