SuperConference Keynote Panel offers inside look at the story behind “The Informant”
The Informant was a 2009 movie (based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald) starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacrea bumbling executive cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expose a price-fixing scheme at his company.
April 23, 2012 at 10:16 AM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
“The Informant” was a 2009 movie (based on a book by Kurt Eichenwald) starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre—a bumbling executive cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expose a price-fixing scheme at his company. The opening keynote panel at SuperConference 2012 gave attendees an inside look at the true story behind the movie, and one of the most important criminal antitrust cases in history. Panelists were some of the people closest to the Whitacre saga, from the FBI agent who handled the case (pictured at left), to Whitacre's former defense attorney.
The story begins with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a Fortune 50 food processing company. Whitacre was president of the bio-products division, and cooperated with the FBI to reveal the deal ADM had with its competitors to fix the price of lysine, an amino acid used in animal feed.
The FBI quickly amassed damning evidence against ADM—Whitacre recorded the president of the company as saying “our competitors are our friends; our customers are the enemy.”
The problem “was that we had a wackadoodle for an informant,” said panelistJames Mutchnik, who at the time was in the Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division and is now a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
Not only was Whitacre a reckless informant, once opening his briefcase to reveal a tape recorder hidden inside during a meeting between ADM and its foreign competitors, but he was eventually revealed as an embezzler, who stole $9.5 million from ADM. And so, the man who should have been the FBI's star witness in taking down ADM found himself with a target on his chest, only making matters worse by repeatedly talking to reporters against the advice of his lawyer.
“Matt Damon gave a good performance, showing how screwy Mark Whitacre was,” said Scott Lassar, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and now a partner at Sidley Austin. “It was supposed to be a comedy, but it wasn't so funny at the time.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
SEC Puts Beat Down on Ex-Wrestling CEO Vince McMahon for Not Reporting Settlements
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1'It's Not Going to Be Pretty': PayPal, Capital One Face Novel Class Actions Over 'Poaching' Commissions Owed Influencers
- 211th Circuit Rejects Trump's Emergency Request as DOJ Prepares to Release Special Counsel's Final Report
- 3Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to ACA Task Force
- 4'Tragedy of Unspeakable Proportions:' Could Edison, DWP, Face Lawsuits Over LA Wildfires?
- 5Meta Pulls Plug on DEI Programs
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
