Mark Cuban Found Not Guilty Of Insider Trading

NOT GUILTY

DALLAS (Reuters) - Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, did not engage in insider trading when he sold his stock in an Internet company in 2004, a Texas jury decided on Wednesday.

Cuban, 55, estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $2.5 billion, was accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of trading on non-public information when he sold his 600,000 shares in Internet search company Mamma.com - worth $7.9 million - and avoided a $750,000 loss.

Prosecutors argued at a two-week trial that Cuban sold his stake soon after learning from Mamma.com Chief Executive Guy Faure that the Montreal-based company was planning a private placement that would dilute his holdings in the company.

Mamma.com shares dropped 9.3 percent on the morning after the offering was announced. By that time, Cuban had already sold his shares.

The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes. Cuban nodded and smiled as the verdict was read.

(Reporting By Jana Pruet; Editing by Greg McCune, Bernard Orr)

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