Take-Two Hit With $50M Lawsuit From Former Executive
It's a complicated story dating back to the 1990s, but GamePolitics sums it up well:
In his suit Alexander claims that he has been in the game biz since he was 16. He says that he built up a distribution company called Jack of All Games which he sold it to Take-Two in 1998. After closing that deal he spent some time as a member of the T2 Board of Directors, leaving in 1999."What he was owed" was staggering: a $240,000 salary with guaranteed 20% raises for three years, a $25,000 monthly expense allowance, a $0.50 royalty on each game passed through his distribution chain, and a large chunk of Take-Two stock.In 2003 Alexander formed a new distribution company, Game Ballers, and began negotiating with Ryan Brant and other execs to partner with T2 and Jack of All Games. Although Alexander began working with T2, his deal was never finalized before legal troubles forced Brant to leave the company in March, 2004. When Eibeler assumed the CEO post later in the year, Alexander apparently fell out of favor and alleges that he was not paid what he was owed.
Take-Two, under new management, refused to comment to GamePolitics on the suit.
Blake's Take: Game distributors are the middlemen between publishers and retailers. That an executive in charge of distribution--getting games from point A to point B--can claim that kind of compensation is mind-boggling.
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WTHInac
replyObviously without all of the details, who knows what this gentleman is truly entitled to....but $50million?
Welcome to America, get rich quick by suing everyone and anyone!
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You start high and the lawyers bitch-slap each other to negotiate and reach the number you really want.
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Only if you have really good lawyers. I had to go through a lawsuit against WC, *I* got bitch slapped into the 15th century and walked away with less than 20% of what I was due, before lawyer fees. :\
Such a horrible horrible system, inflating prices for pure greed will one day harm us....oh wait, that day is now!! ;)
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