[4]It's not a good day for Citigroup tech analyst Mark Mahaney. Moments ago the WSJ reported [5]that the former "star Internet analyst" was fired from Citi for disclosing non-public information about Facebook ahead of the IPO (surely he was the only Wall Street sellside who did this). To wit: "Mr. Mahaney, a top-ranked Internet analyst, was terminated Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the matter. The state also said the senior Citi analyst covering technology had given unpublished information about YouTube revenue estimates to a reporter for a French business magazine. "In an email to a Citi employee who questioned him on the communication, he responded 'this could get me in trouble. Shoot,'" the state said." Oh well: surely one of the hedge funds that did not invest in the FB IPO as a result of Mark's leaks will find him some mid-level analyst position as gratitude. Where it gets seriously ironic is when one looks back at Mark's career and stumbles upon this other WSJ pearl: " [6]Mr. Mahaney, age 46, spent the original dot-com bubble of the late '90s at Morgan Stanley as MS -0.82% a junior analyst working with Mary Meeker, then a star Internet analyst. He then did a stint at hedge fund Galleon Group, whose founder was imprisoned after an insider-trading conviction. One person familiar with the matter says Mr. Mahaney was fired from Galleon for "not getting enough edge" on stocks." In other words, first Maheney was fired for not abusing inside information, then he is fired for... abusing inside information. If it is not too much to ask, could Mark's bosses please make up their minds already?
Our advice to Mark: in your next employment contract, make it very clear upfront if using or not using inside information is grounds for termination.