Reported by Ben Stupples

Since being charged by US federal prosecutors in July, the Tavistock Group founder has repeatedly traded shares of Mirati Therapeutics Inc., Australian Agricultural Co. and Tango Therapeutics Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg from regulatory filings. His stakes in those companies — three of the five behind the indictment’s claims — total about $540 million.

Lewis, 86, is accused of abusing his access to corporate boardrooms to pass inside information to his friends, staff, personal pilots and romantic interests. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and there’s no suggestion of wrongdoing in his latest transactions. A representative for the billionaire’s biotech investment firm, Boxer Capital, declined to comment, while a representative for Lewis didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The recent trades give an insight into Lewis’s business activities since he was arrested after voluntarily surrendering in New York, making him the highest-profile investor swept up in a recent insider-trading crackdown by federal prosecutors. He’s currently out on bail after pledging his 321-foot superyacht and private jet as collateral, and is next due to appear in court in early January.

Boxer Capital

Boxer Capital, the vehicle for Lewis’s biotech bets including Mirati and Tango, has disclosed gains of 7,500% over the past two decades in regulatory filings. In that period, the San Diego-based firm allocated capital to at least 110 companies as Lewis increasingly diversified the fortune he turbo-charged with a successful bet on the British pound and Mexican peso in the 1990s.

The month after his arrest, Lewis bought $33.4 million of Mirati for $27.80 per share, resulting in gains of more than 100% after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. agreed in October to buy the cancer drugmaker. Boxer first surfaced as a Mirati shareholder a decade ago, meaning its early investment has earned a return of more than 700%.

According to prosecutors, Lewis allegedly told several people to buy Mirati shares in 2019 after hearing that it had received positive results in a clinical trial.

Read full report: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-joe-lewis-keeps-trading-121006156.html