Insider Trading Charges Dismissed Against Kim

A California entrepreneur persuaded a federal judge to dismiss insider-trading charges brought after he profited from information he overheard at a club for corporate presidents.

U.S. prosecutors in January said Keith Joon Kim learned in March 1999 about Quantum Corp.’s negotiations to acquire Meridian Data Inc.

Kim was on a private plane en route to a Colorado retreat for the Young Presidents Organization, a group for company presidents under 50.

He later made $830,000 by purchasing and selling Meridian stock, which more than doubled after the acquisition was announced May 11, 1999.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer threw out the charges, ruling Tuesday that Kim may have broken the club’s rules but did not break federal securities laws.