Jeffry Picower

[12] In 1983, Picower was rebuked by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for late disclosure of his greater than 5% position in a company involved in a merger.

[13] Researchers there, led by Kevin J. Tracey, made a potentially valuable discovery, with possible applications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and multiple sclerosis.

However, it was revealed that Picower owned 76% of PharmaSciences stock and actually controlled 86.2%, putting him in a conflict of interest in the merger negotiations.

[17][22] It distributed over $268 million in grants to various American organizations, including Human Rights First and the New York Public Library.

[17][23] However, the Picower Foundation was forced to close in 2009 due to losses arising from the uncovering of Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

[7] On November 1, 2009, an additional court filing by Irving Picard documented an apparently fraudulent gain benefiting Picower.

Picower's wife Barbara told dispatchers she found him "at the bottom of their swimming pool" at their oceanfront estate shortly after noon.

[28] According to the Palm Beach Police Department, "An autopsy of the body of Jeffry M. Picower was performed this morning.

The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Mr. Picower suffered a massive heart attack while in the swimming pool resulting in accidental drowning.