Legendary investor Bill Gross sues Pimco for hundreds of millions

Bill Gross is suing his former employer for “hundreds of millions of dollars”, claiming he was wrongfully pushed out.

Mr Gross, a billionaire, is demanding a jury trial and damages no less than $US200 million ($A276m), according to the 19-page complaint, filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Orange.

It added these executives were “driven by lust for power, greed, and a desire to improve their own financial position and reputation at the expense of investors and decency”.

In the complaint, Gross said younger Pimco executives had plotted to drive him out, and share in the 20 percent of Pimco’s bonus pool to which he was entitled, because they believed his presence was impeding their careers and limiting their paychecks.

Their improper, dishonest, and unethical behavior must now be exposed. His lawsuit stated: “Cracks soon began to appear in this alliance, however, as El-Erian sought to force Pimco out of its core focus on bonds and related fixed income securities and instead become a general-purpose investment management firm offering stocks, commodities, real estate, and hedge fund-like products to investors”.

The Bond King is back for more.

A spokesman for Pimco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did El-Erian. We have reached out to Pimco and to Gross’s lawyer for comment and confirmation, and will update this post with any response.

The suit details the trouble between Mr Gross and former Pimco chief executive Mohamed El-Erian, who left the company in early 2014 after clashes with Mr Gross, according to court documents.

The lawsuit accuses Pimco of constructive termination, breach of contract, and exercising bad faith.

PIMCO, short for Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC, was founded in 1971 by Gross, Jim Muzzy and Bill Podlich. An attorney for Gross said all proceeds from the lawsuit will go to charity, including the Pimco Foundation.