Trillium Capital Manager Sentenced to Federal Prison for Securities Fraud Scheme Involving Getty Images

BOSTON - A Mashpee man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to artificially inflate the trading price of Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (Getty Images) and attempting to cover up the scheme.

Robert Scott Murray, 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 10 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Murray was also ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $227,543. In June 2024, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.

Murray was a long-time investor who previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of multiple public companies, including Stream Global Services and 3Com. In 2023, Murray was the owner and manager of Trillium Capital LLC (Trillium Capital), a venture investment company located in Massachusetts. Between October 2022 and April 2023, Murray bought approximately 300,000 shares, as well as other options contracts, for shares in Getty Images, a visual media company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GETY. Murray then attempted to use Trillium Capital to pressure Getty Images to change its business strategy and to add Murray to Getty Images' board of directors.

When those efforts failed, Murray used Trillium Capital to launch a fake takeover bid of Getty Images for the purposes of driving up the trading price of Getty Images' stock so that Murray could sell the shares he owned at the artificially inflated price. On Friday, April 21, 2023, GETY shares closed at a trading price of $5.06 per share. On Monday, April 24, 2023, prior to the market opening, Murray caused the publication of a press release in which Trillium Capital made a proposal to acquire Getty Images for "$10 per share." When the market opened, GETY shares traded at $7.88 per share, nearly 56 percent above the prior closing price. Murray then sold all the GETY shares he owned within less than one hour for approximately $1,486,467. Through this scheme, Murray was able to sell the GETY shares he owned for $227,543 above the fair market price of those shares.

Murray then attempted conceal the scheme by making public false statements and obstructing the investigation. On April 24, 2024, after selling his shares, Murray interviewed with news outlets where he continued to portray the fake offer by Trillium Capital to purchase a controlling stake in Getty Images as "genuine." Murray also privately directed an acquaintance to obstruct the investigation by destroying evidence and making false statements in response to a subpoena. For example, Murray instructed the acquaintance to delete Murray's text messages and stated that the texts were "like virginity, once you delete your virginity you ain't getting it back." Murray later lied to federal agents about his communications with the acquaintance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Murray alleging violations of the securities laws.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division made the announcement. The Securities and Exchange Commission provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.