Former NFL star Rob Gronkowski, NBA player Victor Oladipo and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill will pay a total of $2.4 million as part of a lawsuit to promote defunct cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital. agreed.
The settlement separates the Dallas Mavericks and its minority shareholders. shark tank Entrepreneur Mark Cuban was named as the last remaining defendant in the case. But unlike his trio of athletes, Cuban may not be looking to settle his part of the case.
Mr. Cuban declined to comment, but Stephen Best, an attorney with the Brown Rudnick law firm, said he and Mr. Cuban are pursuing claims that could result in damages being dismissed, transferred, or limited to a lower amount. He said he is waiting to see what the court will decide on the matter.
“We are awaiting significant dispositional decisions from the court,” Best said in an email. dallas morning news. “This week, we will file a no-objection position statement with the court stating that no part of the settlement with any other company will be enforceable or affect the Dallas Mavericks or Mark Cuban in any way.”
Gronkowski will be paid $1.9 million, according to Law360. Oladipo, who retired from the NBA last year, will be paid $500,000, and Cassil will be paid $25,000.
Cuban and Mavericks announce five-year partnership with Voyager in 2021, allowing fans to receive a $100 reward if they deposit $100 and make a minimum trade of $10 by the end of the month did. The deal attracted so many prospective investors that Voyager implemented a waiting list.
However, this partnership soon soured. In just a few weeks after the announcement, the digital currency peaked and then crashed, with the global market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rising from $2.9 trillion to $1.2 trillion. Voyager then filed for bankruptcy in July 2022.
Two months later, a class action lawsuit was filed against Cuban and the Mavericks on behalf of investors in the platform. The complaint alleges that Mr. Cuban used his popularity and credibility to convince investors to trust Voyager and made “false and misleading promises.”
Cuban denied the accusations, but the original 2022 complaint said Voyager's failure ultimately cost investors more than $3 million. The class action lawsuit also went after athletes like Gronkowski, Oladipo and Cassill who helped promote the platform to fans.
Moskowitz Law Firm, one of the firms representing investors in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for an interview from the company. news.
Cuba's Best Lawyer is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has represented other big-name celebrities, including Elon Musk, after U.S. security regulators charged him with fraud in 2018. .
Best declined to comment on whether he, Cuban and the Mavericks will go to trial, but said he is prepared to defend his clients no matter how the court rules on his motion to dispose of them. said.
“Now that Voyager is bankrupt, the plaintiffs are busy trying to hold them accountable for large sums of money without regard to the facts or the law,” Best said. “Although more than 20 celebrities and institutions, including major universities, were promoting Voyager at one time, the only defendant of interest to the plaintiffs is Mark Cuban. I am confident that this matter will somehow be resolved in Mr. Cuban's favor.”
