You may not have heard of Kinnucan, a consultant that runs Broadband Research, but the business world now has, and soon the national public might. In October, Kinnucan was asked by the FBI to wear a wire in meetings so as to aid an investigation into insider trading at hedge funds such as SAC Capital. Kinnucan wasn't interested. Fine. But smart got dumb when Kinnucan emailed all of his clients to tip them off about what he was asked to do, calling the FBI "eager beavers" in the process.
Kinnucan, who claimed he was contractually obliged to notify his clients of the Feds' visit, is hardly out of the woods. He has been required to shut down his dealings for the time being, and the FBI subpoenaed him for all of Broadband Research's records since 2008. "I know I'm the biggest whack job, but I feel fine," Kinnucan recently told the New York Times. New York magazine, meanwhile, has referred to him as a "Wall Street hero." But 75% of Fortune.com readers, in our unscientific poll, voted that he's a schmuck.
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