The "rock star" in the Galleon scandal

November 23, 2009 | By Jim Kim

Danielle Chiesi's role in the Galleon, Raj Rajaratnam insider trading scandal has been noted often but not fully explored, leaving many questions. Her language was certainly colorful--she favored the F-word according to the wiretaps--but it turns out her modus operandi was just as colorful.

Bloomberg reports Chiesi, "a blond, blue-eyed former teenage beauty queen," spent a lot of time at stock conferences. Where "she wore short skirts and low-cut tops, according to people who saw her over the years. One ploy was to go barhopping with a group, and then peel someone off to talk to on the dance floor." She was said to have bragged often about all her contacts, which tended to be older male executives at top tech companies. She once told a group that she could get an AMD executive on the phone anytime she wanted. But her info gathering and trading apparently crossed the lines. She's been accused of crimes that could land her in prison. These sorts of scandals invariably turn up colorful characters. We'll see if she eventually starts cooperating.

For more:
- here's the Bloomberg article