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Thu, 28 May 2026

Thu, 28 May 2026 Google worker charged with using internal data to make $1.2m on bets

The longtime Google employee was charged in New York for allegedly breaking insider trading laws.
A Google employee, Michele Spagnuolo, has been arrested and charged with insider trading after allegedly using company information to make lucrative bets on Polymarket. Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen living in Switzerland, used his access to confidential marketing material at Google to make $1.2m in profits through Polymarket. The US Attorney's office claims that Spagnuolo broke insider trading laws by using internal information to place bets, and he has been released on a $2.25m bond. Google has placed Spagnuolo on leave and is cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation. Polymarket, the prediction platform where Spagnuolo made his bets, has said that it worked closely with authorities on the case, citing the transparency of blockchain technology in detecting suspicious activity. The FBI linked Spagnuolo's accounts by tracing one he had opened using an Italian identification card, and court papers show that he placed over $2.7m in bets related to Google between October and December last year. Spagnuolo allegedly made his most profitable bets by correctly predicting who would be the most searched person on Google in 2025, including a musician who was currently in jail for murder charges.