On June 4, 2020, the SEC announced a nearly $50 million award to a whistleblower who provided the SEC with detailed, first-hand information that assisted the agency in bringing a successful enforcement action.  While tipsters have previously shared a $50 million award, this is the largest amount ever awarded to a single whistleblower under the SEC’s whistleblower program and far surpasses the next-largest individual award of $39 million in September 2018.

Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, said in a press release that “[t]his award marks several milestones for the whistleblower program,” and explained that the award “is the largest individual whistleblower award announced by the SEC since the inception of the program, and brings the total awarded to whistleblowers by the SEC to over $500 million, including over $100 million in this fiscal year alone.”  She added, “[w]histleblowers have proven to be a critical tool in the enforcement arsenal to combat fraud and protect investors.”

Since the inception of the whistleblower program in 2011, the SEC has received over 33,000 tips and awarded over $500 million to 83 individuals.  The order granting yesterday’s record-breaking award can be accessed here.