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 f ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the Minidoka Internment Camp in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

during the period of Japanese internment. He graduated from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

, then earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

'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, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

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

Foster and Partners Foster and Partners (also Foster + Partners) is a British international architecture firm with its headquarters in London, England. It was founded in 1967 by British architect and designer Norman Foster. The firm has been involved in the desig ...

. The building houses

Imperial College Business School Imperial Business School is the business school of Imperial College London, based in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, United Kingdom. Established in 2003, the business school was opened by Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II. ...

, 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 list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racing In sports, 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 g ...

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

. His horses have won major races in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

plus prestigious

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n events, notably the

Hong Kong Mile The Hong Kong Mile is a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, 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 Racecourse, Sha ...

and the

Singapore Airlines International Cup The Singapore Airlines International Cup was a Group 1 flat horse race in Singapore open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It was run at Kranji over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), in May each year. It was discontinued from ...

. 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