On September 11, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Jian Wu with orchestrating a scheme to deceive his former employer, Two Sigma Investments, LP and its affiliate, Two Sigma Advisers, LP, and reap millions of dollars in ill-gotten compensation by manipulating computer-based algorithmic investment models that Two Sigma used to make investment decisions for clients, including decisions to buy and sell securities.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that between November 2021 and August 2023, Wu secretly manipulated at least fourteen investment models that he created or helped create, which Two Sigma used to predict the future performance of securities, and which Wu understood Two Sigma used to make investment decisions for clients.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Wu misrepresented to Two Sigma that these models were generating unique forecasts when, in fact, Wu made unauthorized and undisclosed changes to those models that caused them to effectively replicate the forecasts of other Two Sigma models. Wu’s unauthorized changes allegedly caused Two Sigma to buy and sell securities for its clients in amounts, concentrations, and frequencies that differed from Two Sigma’s intended strategies, and caused at least $165 million in harm to certain clients, which Two Sigma subsequently repaid.
According to the complaint, Wu obtained millions of dollars of ill-gotten gains in incentive compensation as a result of his fraud.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the New York Southern District Court, charges Wu with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement and prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an order barring Wu from acting as or being associated with an investment adviser.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced criminal charges against Wu on September 11, 2025.
