The Emulex hoax was an instance of securities fraud perpetrated by 23-year-old Mark Jakob on August 24, 2000.
[1] Jakob, a former employee of the press release distribution service Internet Wire, was facing a loss of almost $100,000 as a result of short-selling stock in the Emulex Corporation, a fiber-optic equipment manufacturer.
Bloomberg picked up Jakob's fake release at around 10:13 a.m., just as Emulex, headquartered in California, was opening its doors for the day, and the stock price fell 62% before Emulex found the fake release and asked the National Association of Securities Dealers to halt trading, which it did at 10:29 a.m.[5] Once the release had been conclusively debunked, trading resumed on Emulex and the share price recovered almost immediately to close at $105.75.
[3] The FBI traced the release to Mark Jakob, who had realized a profit of more than $240,000 by shorting the stock.
[2] Jakob pled guilty[2] and was sentenced to 44 months in prison,[1] forfeiting the gains and owing an additional $103,000 in penalties.