Former Nets Investor Claims Ratner Promised Ownership Role

Former Nets Investor Claims Ratner Promised Role In Ownership Group

Former Nets investor Eugene Greene is suing Nets Owner Bruce Ratner for $20M for allegedly “stiffing him out of a spot in the ownership” of the team, according to Jose Martinez of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Greene alleges that at Ratner’s request, he “sank $6[M] into the Nets in 2003 and also raised more than $30[M] from other investors.” In exchange, Greene said he was promised a “key role in the team’s organization.” Forest City Ratner spokesperson Joe DePlasco said, “We strongly disagree with the plaintiff’s assertion.” According to court papers from ’03, Greene was brought into the group Ratner was assembling to buy the team from former Owner Lewis Katz, and “charged with lining up more investors.” But Martinez notes Greene “wasn’t picked for the team’s [BOG] once Ratner’s bid to buy the Nets was approved” in ’04 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/11).