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The Haslam family, which owns the Cleveland Browns, is facing accusations of attempting to bribe the executives of a company they are trying to sell.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway claims the Haslam family tried to bribe at least 15 executives at the Pilot truck stop chain.
Berkshire also claims in a counter-lawsuit, according to the Associated Press, that the Haslams paid millions of dollars to have these executives inflate the company’s profits this year.
If successful, the Haslams could then force Berkshire to pay more for their remaining 20% stake in the company worth approximately $3.2 billion. Berkshire became the majority owner of the company earlier this year.
The Haslam family, which incudes Cleveland Browns managing partner Jimmie Haslam and former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, had initially sued Berkshire Hathaway for allegedly attempting trying to understate Pilot’s earnings this year by changing its accounting practices.
“Berkshire said Jimmy Haslam offered to personally pay bonuses to the executives that would far exceed their annual salaries based on the price the family received for its remaining stake,” the Associated Press reported.
“Berkshire redacted the number of employees it believes agreed to accept bonuses, but it said Haslam made the offer to about 15 employees at a country club dinner in Knoxville, Tennessee, in March and repeated that offer to at least four other high-level executives.
“Pilot’s former CEO also extended the offer of under-the-table payments to at least 10 other executives in April, according to Berkshire’s filing.”
“We called Berkshire’s allegations wild inventions in our opposition brief,” attorney for the Haslam family Anitha Reddy said on Thursday.
“I don’t think we could have been clearer that we dispute them. And if there is any doubt in Berkshire’s mind, we think they’re false and we intend to defeat them on whatever schedule the court orders.”
The original lawsuit is scheduled to take place sometime in January.