$36 Billion Gone in a Week: The Archegos Fraud

On Monday, March 22, 2021, Bill Hwang's family office controlled more than $36 billion. By Thursday night, according to the SEC, it was down to $9.2 billion. Within days it was gone, and the banks that lent him the money were left with losses a federal court later put at more than $9 billion. This episode follows how Archegos secretly built some of the largest positions in companies like ViacomCBS through total return swaps, how its risk manager lied to a dozen banks, and how a federal jury convicted Hwang of fraud and market manipulation in 2024. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Both Hwang and Archegos CFO Patrick Halligan have appealed; as of the most recent filings we reviewed, the appeals were pending. Every fact in this video comes from court records and official documents: United States v. Hwang et al., S.D.N.Y. 22-cr-240: indictment, trial transcripts (Docs 257, 265), restitution orders (Docs 442, 481), Halligan judgment (Doc 463) SEC v. Hwang et al., S.D.N.Y. 22-cv-3402, complaint (civil allegations) U.S. Department of Justice press release, Dec. 19, 2024 CFTC press release 8520-22, Apr. 27, 2022 Chapters 0:00 Cold open 1:11 Part 1: The second chance 2:37 Part 2: The invisible shareholder 4:02 Part 3: A sign of me buying 6:25 Part 4: Part of the job 7:54 Part 5: The week it broke 10:10 Part 6: Who paid 11:03 Part 7: The trial 12:22 Part 8: The sentence 12:50 What we take from this Stock footage: Pixabay (Pixabay Content License). Music: original, made for this channel. This video is for education and news commentary. It is not financial advice.