Bill Gross is already in trouble with his former partners from Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO). The latter blamed Gross for the company’s recent struggles. They also claimed he acted strange in the weeks prior to his departure. Now his son’s business partner Donray Graves from G Squared Media Holdings is going after him with a lawsuit.
Graves’ claims against Bill Gross
The reason behind the litigation? Graves claimed Bill Gross tried to sabotage the G Squared business partnership. Graves was in a 50/50 business partnership with Bill’s son Nicholas Gross. The firm raised $3 million from Gross as an investment in early stage companies. Last month, Nicholas filed a lawsuit against Graves. He wanted to dissolve the business because their partnership stopped working last summer.
A closer look at the formal complaint
In the 13-page formal complaint he filed, Donray Graves claimed after Nicholas told him about his father acting strange, he started to distance himself from the partnership. His father also reportedly told him to stop doing business with Graves.
According to the formal complaint, Graves claimed he met Nicholas via the music industry when Gross was a drummer for a rock band. He also helped the band with management issues and even assisted Nicholas with his music production company.
The two men joined forces last year to create G-Squared. They both took out loans each for $1.5 million.They also met up at PIMCO’s offices when Bill joined the board. Unfortunately, the business partnership took a nosedive and Bill Gross was determined to drive a wedge between the business partners.
The fallout between Nicholas and Bill Graves
Nicholas first ignored his father’s demand but he eventually caved in and forced Graves out of the G Squared business dealings. He also took out a chunk of $3 million which was borrowed from Monte Carlo promissory notes. This was to fund his outside projects such as his band and music company. Graves also complained that Nicholas would pay radio stations to play certain musical acts he was associated with in an illegal practice known as payola. Neither Bill nor his son commented on the matter.
Last month, Nicholas wanted to shutter the G Square company. His reasoning was that Graves was using the company for his own benefits. He explained, “Dissolution is also necessary for the protection of Plaintiff’s rights and interests, because, as a result of Graves’s conduct, any remaining assets of G-Squared are at risk due to lack of proper administration. G-Squared’s management is also deadlocked on planning for the financial and strategic direction of G Squared and experiences internal dissension.”
Time will tell if Graves lawsuit against Bill Gross is successful.
