LOS ANGELES (CN) - Embattled hip-hop label Death Row Records is again at the center of legal action, after venture capitalist Ron Goldberg claimed that his partners cut him out of a deal he orchestrated to buy the bankrupt label.
In his claim in Superior Court, Goldberg says he recruited investors for the label, who then teamed up with Anthony Marotta, then-president of Goldberg's Global Music Group, to buy Death Row behind his back. Marotta and the investors Goldberg recruited, Susan Berg and Reggie Bush at RSB Investment Strategies, paid $24 million for the label, Goldberg says. He claims they used the "confidential know-how, data, techniques, and contacts" Goldberg had cultivated for the deal.
Marion "Suge" Knight founded Death Row in 1991. Death Row's roster soon read like a hip hop boast, including Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre.
Knight filed for bankruptcy after years of allegedly faulty accounting, and unpaid royalties. A judge's order to pay cofounder Lydia Harris $107 million put Death Row in the grave.
Goldberg demands $25 million. He is represented by Farhad Novian and Josh Mendelson with Novian and Novian.
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