BOSTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A former CEO of several

publicly traded companies was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 months

in prison after admitting he launched a fake $4 billion takeover

bid for Getty Images Holdings ( GETY ) to artificially inflate

the visual media company's stock price.

Scott Murray, who previously served as chief executive of

Stream Global Services and 3Com, was sentenced by U.S. District

Judge Denise Casper in Boston after pleading guilty in June to

committing securities fraud.

Prosecutors sought a 16-month prison term for Murray, a

long-time investor and businessman who in 2007 launched Trillium

Capital to invest his own money in other companies.

Prosecutors said the fraud began after Murray, 61, bought

about 300,000 shares of Seattle-based Getty, which competes with

Reuters and the Associated Press in providing photos and videos

for editorial use.

After building a position in Getty, Murray and Trillium in

early April 2023 began issuing press releases and sending emails

pushing Getty to sell itself or add him to its board of

directors, prosecutors said. Getty rejected those proposals.

Losing money on his investment, Murray then sought to

mitigate his losses by issuing a press release announcing the

bogus $4 billion takeover bid of Getty by Trillium, which had

only $20 on hand, prosecutors said.

The April 24, 2023 announcement drove up Getty's stock

price, allowing Murray to sell his entire remaining stake in

Getty of about 209,250 shares within two hours for about $1.49

million, prosecutors said.

The fake takeover bid generated substantial news coverage.

Murray at the time declined in an interview with Reuters to say

how he would fund a takeover but said his bid was genuine and

that his "deep relationships" in the private equity industry

made it possible.

"He offers no excuses for that conduct beyond the fact that

he simply panicked and compounded his initial poor choices,"

Murray's lawyers wrote in court papers.

In addition to serving time in prison, Murray must also

forfeit $227,543.