From that rambunctious personality to the leadership style he implemented at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer is truly one-of-a-kind — which makes it all the more surprising that a former friend found ways for Ballmer to be impersonated on the phone to set up lucrative deals with potential investors.
The Seattle Times has the details of what’s turned into a messy relationship between Ballmer and Steve Gordon, a former Seattle Sonics trainer and now ex-friend of the former Microsoft CEO.
Ballmer is listed as a defendant with Gordon in two separate lawsuits: One involving debts that Gordon owes to investors, and another case that claims Ballmer and Gordon owe $5 million for consulting work.
But Ballmer says he was not knowingly involved in either situation. Seattle scientist Thomas Bukowski claims that he’s owed $10 million by Gordon, and said that Ballmer is on the hook for $3 million of that debt, based on agreements between Ballmer and Gordon. Ballmer has denied any obligation for those debts.
In a separate lawsuit, an investment advisor claims that Ballmer and Gordon owe her more than $5 million after she was hired to manage a billion-dollar basketball acquisition fund years before Ballmer’s current $2 billion bid for the L.A. Clippers. But Andrew Kinstler, a lawyer for Ballmer, told GeekWire last week that the former Microsoft CEO’s signature was forged on a key document that created an “agency agreement” between Ballmer and Gordon.
What’s more, Ballmer was unaware of any agreement with the consulting firm, and he never entered into the original partnership with Gordon, said Kinstler.
However, a lawyer for the investment advisor said he continues to believe that Ballmer’s signature on the original agreement with Gordon was valid.
Now, the Seattle Times reports that Gordon instructed others to impersonate Ballmer on the phone in order to help Ballmer “avoid people,” as Gordon put it. Gordon also made it appear that he and Ballmer were investment partners for deals — including a multi-million dollar basketball promotional venture in Australia and China — that Ballmer denies knowledge of.
This is the latest development in what’s turned into a broken relationship between the two former friends. Gordon taught basketball to both Ballmer and his children, and also attended Ballmer’s 40th and 50th birthday parties. Ballmer has also given thousands of dollars to Gordon over the years to help repay debts and provide financial support. More recently, Ballmer paid for Gordon to fly to a psychiatric hospital last year.
Kinstler said via email last week that his office has turned over the issue of the “phony” agreement in the consulting lawsuit to the King County Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of Ballmer, and is cooperating with the prosecutor’s office in its investigation into the situation.
