SEC Made Record-Breaking $279 Million Payout to Whistleblower in Ericsson Bribery Case

It really pays to blow the whistle.

A record-breaking $279 million payout to an anonymous whistleblower raised eyebrows when it was announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5. According to a WSJ report, that reward was handed out in connection with the $1.1 billion bribery settlement the agency reached with telecom giant Ericsson in 2019.

Marking the largest payout in the history of the SEC’s whistleblower program, the $279 million more than doubled the previous record-holder, a $114 million award made in October 2020. The SEC computes the size of the awards based on the quality of the information shared and the payout can range from 10% to 30% of the total fine if it exceeds $1 million.

In the case of Ericsson, the $1.1 billion fine levied by the SEC for a litany of international bribery charges throughout the Middle East and Asia, where the company lined the pockets of local officials to win business contracts for its subsidiaries. Based on the numbers, the whistleblower in the enforcement action was paid out at the top of the SEC’s range.

Since its inception in 2010, the whistleblower program has seen a vertiginous rise in the size of awards. The 10 largest payouts have all come in the last five years, and the SEC handed out $564 million to more than a hundred whistleblowers in 2021 alone.