Gary A. Tanaka (born June 23, 1943, in Hunt, Idaho) is an American businessman, convicted securities fraudster, sportsman and philanthropist who co-founded the investment company

Amerindo Investment Advisors Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. was an Investment services firm, best known for making large profits during the Dot-com boom of the 1990s and 2000s. The origins of the company date to the early 1980s, when Alberto Vilar and Gary A. Tanaka fou ...

in 1979 along with

Alberto Vilar Alberto Vilar, a.k.a. Albert Vilar (October 4, 1940 – September 4, 2021) was an American investment manager who became particularly known as a patron of opera companies, performing arts organizations, and educational institutions. Following the ...

Early life and education

Tanaka was born during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the Minidoka Internment Camp in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

during the period of Japanese internment. He graduated from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

, then earned a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

degree at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with a dissertation on the mathematics of the transition from laminar to turbulent flow in a fluid flowing over a solid surface.

Personal life

Tanaka lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with his wife and two children in a house which was once

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

's wartime headquarters. Tanaka has two adult sons, Mark Tanaka, who is also a fund manager, most recently of Sanno Point Capital Management and Michael Tanaka, a notable businessman based in the UK.

Philanthropy

Tanaka was known for his donation of £27m to

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, which resulted in construction of the Tanaka Building in 2004, designed by the international architecture, planning and design studio

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...

. The building houses

Imperial College Business School Imperial College Business School is the graduate business school of Imperial College London in the UK. In 2004, the business school was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. History In 1851, the Great Exhibition was the first World's Fair, organized by ...

, and combines the business school's facilities with a new front entrance for the College. He was also known for the high-profile court case against him in 2008. In August 2008, the Business School at Imperial College London was renamed from "Tanaka Business School" to "Imperial College Business School" both because the old name did not strongly emphasise its association with the College, and because Tanaka was found guilty of fraud the same year. The school's accommodation was subsequently named "the Tanaka Building". An alternative speculation is that the college changed the name of the school to distance itself from Tanaka's fraudulent activities.

Legal issues

Tanaka was tried in 2008 in New York for a $20 million fraud against customers of the Amerindo investment company he ran with Alberto Vilar. In November 2008 he was found guilty of conspiracy, securities fraud and investment adviser fraud. Tanaka was sentenced to five years in jail in early 2010.CGCU
/ref> The sentence was later extended to six years.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Dr. Tanaka owns a significant

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

. His horses have won major races in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

plus prestigious

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n events, notably the

Hong Kong Mile The Hong Kong Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) at Sha Tin, and it is scheduled to take place each year in mid December. ...

and the

Singapore Airlines International Cup The Singapore Airlines International Cup was a Group 1 flat horse race in Singapore which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Kranji over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled to take place ea ...

. The success of his stable has come in large part from his ability to spot quality thoroughbreds racing in other countries and bring them to the US where they can run for larger purses, thus raising their resale and stud value.

References