> The test is whether he, or any other actor, gave the order to sell while in possession of material information.

Wouldn't that reasonably make any sale, at any time, illegal?

Or, alternately, when would a CEO not possess (non-public) material information?

I posted this, but I have no idea how to interpret it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16104426 - the numbers make no sense to me.

>It’s possible to put an advance order in place to sell shares on a plan, which clears the issue because that decision is made in advance.

That's what he did, no?

He broke his pattern last year by changing the orders in october. At a time intel was already aware of Meltdown and with a puplication date for the vulnerability set in January. Wikipedia states that the issue had been shared with manufacturers in July, a month after he normally issues his orders mentioned by the article.

Edit: The date on the last part is wrong, which doesn't change the fact that he changed his orders in the time between internal and public disclosure of Meltdown. I misread the article, in 2017 he issued his orders in February not June (2015).

Only time, not number. The schedule allows for a sale on pre determined days, and on the day in question, after he had the news, he sold every share he legally could - way more than he usually did on the scheduled days.