AMD Boss Dragged Into Insider Trading Case

BURLINGAME, Calif. -- Former Advanced Micro Devices Chief Hector Ruiz has been dragged into a high-profile insider-trading case, The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday.

Citing an anonymous source, the Journal reported that Ruiz, who resigned as head of AMD last year, is the unnamed executive in a criminal suit filed by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office earlier this month. Ruiz allegedly gave information about the chip maker to investors.

In the lawsuit, the U.S. Attorney's office alleges Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group, a hedge fund, and five others got details of a shakeup at AMD that resulted in the creation of a new company dubbed GlobalFoundries to oversee AMD's chip factories, according to the Journal. The six defendants are contesting the charges.

Ruiz, who remains chairman of GlobalFoundries, has not been charged in that case.

Since the start of the year, AMD's shares have soared nearly 140%, despite ongoing losses.