Headlines

Diamond Dealer Wins $200M+ in Legal Fight

Published

7 years ago

March 1, 2017

INSTORE Staff

The “King of Diamonds” had been in a long-running battle.

Businessman Lev Leviev has been awarded a $209 million judgment in a long-running battle with his former business partners in three diamond ventures.

Leviev, a billionaire known as the “King of Diamonds,” had partnered with Martin Klein and others starting in 2002, the New York Daily News reports. A decade later, a dispute over price arose when Leviev wanted to buy Klein out, and they headed to arbitration.

The New York Post reports that the arbitration “quickly turned ugly, including allegations that the arbitrator assigned to decide the case was not fit to do the job.”

Now a federal judge in New York has determined that the Julius Klein Group must pay $142 million to LGC USA Holdings, which is Leviev’s company. That’s on top of the $67 million that the Kleins previously forked over.

An attorney for the Julius Klein Group said an appeal is planned.

Read more at the New York Daily News

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”