Mark E. Whitacre (born May 1, 1957) is the chief operating officer and President of Operations at Cypress Systems, a California biotechnology firm. He was the President of the BioProducts Division at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) from 1989 to 1995. Whitacre came to public attention in 1995 when it became known that he had been acting as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was investigating ADM for price fixing. Whitac...
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Mark E. Whitacre (born May 1, 1957) is the chief operating officer and President of Operations at Cypress Systems, a California biotechnology firm. He was the President of the BioProducts Division at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) from 1989 to 1995. Whitacre came to public attention in 1995 when it became known that he had been acting as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was investigating ADM for price fixing. Whitacre was the highest-level executive to ever become an FBI whistleblower. After ADM discovered his role as an informant, ADM investigated Whitacre's company activities. Having discovered a potential embezzelement scheme, and at ADM's request, the FBI began investigating Whitacre for embezzlement from the company. Whitacre lost his whistleblower's immunity as a result of $9 million in various frauds, and consequently spent eight and a half years in federal prison.
Whitacre was born on May 1, 1957, and grew up in a middle class family in southern...
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