Bill Gross is mad as [heck] and he’s not going to take this anymore. The billionaire founder of Pacific Investment Management Co. is suing his former firm for $200 million, alleging he was driven out by directors because of “power, greed, and a desire to improve their own financial position,” according to court documents.
Gross abruptly left PIMCO in September 2014 for Janus Capital among rumors of increasingly erratic behavior and plans for his termination by the company.
Examples include a disastrous presentation at the Morningstar Investor Conference in June of 2014 (pictured above), in which he donned dark sunglasses and made references to Justin Bieber, as well as angry outbursts on the PIMCO trading floor.
According to the complaint filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, Gross also names PIMCO’s parent company, financial services giant Allianz Asset Management of America, as a co-defendant.
An attorney for Mr. Gross said all proceeds from the lawsuit will go to charity, including the PIMCO Foundation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Noting that the suit “reads like a solid spy novel,” the paper reports, and the lawsuit alleges, that by forcing Gross out of PIMCO, younger executives would be able to split his share of the firm’s well-known bonus pool. For Gross, that amount totaled about $16 million in the first two quarters of 2014, with $80 million more expected later in the year.
Gross reserved some of his harshest ire for former PIMCO Chief Executive Mohamed El-Erian, who left the company in early 2014 after rumored clashes with Gross.
Seeming to imply El-Erian somehow was simply lucky when managing the incredible growth of the Harvard endowment as CEO of Harvard Management Company, Gross claims turmoil surrounding El-Erian’s departure set the stage for individuals seeking to oust Gross from PIMCO “for their own personal financial benefit and egos,” the suit states.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
