Summary
Former billionaire investor Bill Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which caused over $10 billion in losses to Wall Street banks.
Convicted of wire fraud, securities fraud, and market manipulation, Hwang misled banks to secure massive loans, amassing $160 billion in stock exposure before Archegos’s collapse in 2021.
The implosion wiped out $100 billion in stock value and severely impacted banks like Credit Suisse.
Despite his philanthropy, the court rejected his plea for leniency, citing the scale of financial harm.
Huh. I was 100% convinced this article was going to be about a ruling in a South Korean court or something like that. Seeing an American court hold a billionaire accountable for once was a bigger surprise than it ought to be.
Probably because he isn’t white.