tech
Google employee accused of making over $1.2M on Polymarket through insider trading
A software engineer at Google is facing federal charges after allegedly betting on confidential company information on Polymarket, netting more than $1.2 million in profits, the second insider trading prosecution against a user of the popular prediction market service in recent months.
TL;DR
- Michele Spagnuolo, a Google software engineer, is accused of insider trading on Polymarket using confidential company information.
- He allegedly used internal tools to access Google's 2025 'Year in Search' data before it was public.
- Spagnuolo placed bets on celebrity rankings in the 'Year in Search' report, netting over $1.2 million in profits.
- He faces federal charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
- This is the second insider trading prosecution involving a Polymarket user.
- Google confirmed Spagnuolo is on leave and the company is cooperating with law enforcement.
- Polymarket stated it flagged the trader and is cooperating with federal authorities.