The Lederer Files: The Phil Ivey Lawsuit, Transition 2.0
Since April 15, 2011, the poker world has waited anxiously to hear from Howard Lederer about the downfall of Full Tilt Poker. That wait is officially over.
In Part 5 of this exclusive interview series with PokerNews.com, Lederer goes into detail about Phil Ivey's $150 million lawsuit against the company filed on June 1, 2011. According to Lederer, Ivey was only looking out for himself and didn't fulfill his moral obligation as an owner to help return customer funds. Lederer called the lawsuit "horrific" and "devastating to the company."
Said Lederer, "On a group phone call with his attorney, company attorneys and the board, I just simply said, 'The company is in peril right now. The assets are what are going to get our customers paid. And you are asking us to weaken the value of our assets, right now at our time of need?"
Even though Ivey's lawsuit could have severely devalued the company's assets, Ivey was ultimately appointed to a board seat alongside Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon, essentially sweeping the previous board out with a member vote. Lederer explains that a group led by Phil Gordon and his attorney believed that the prior board had actively participated in creating the nine-figure shortfall. After a majority vote by the owners, the old board was to be removed and Ray Bitar would be replaced as CEO.
Here is Part 5 of The Lederer Files:
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for the remainder of the exclusive interview series with Lederer. For news, updates, and more follow PokerNews on Twitter and Facebook
Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of PokerNews.
In this Series
- 1 The Lederer Files: An Introduction
- 2 The Lederer Files: The Beginning of Full Tilt Poker
- 3 The Lederer Files: The UIGEA, Segregated Accounts, and Retirement
- 4 The Lederer Files: The Backlog and Black Friday
- 5 The Lederer Files: Black Friday Aftermath, the Search for a Solution
- 6 The Lederer Files: The Phil Ivey Lawsuit, Transition 2.0
- 7 The Lederer Files: Outstanding Member Loans, Groupe Bernard Tapie Complications
- 8 The Lederer Files: PokerStars Saves the Day, Apology to Full Tilt Poker's Customers
- 9 The Lederer Files: The Process and Opinions
- 10 Recapping The Lederer Files — Part 1
- 11 Recapping the Lederer Files — Part 2
