Earlier this week, Mike Tyson canceled the remaining dates of his touring one-man show. You could assume (and still can) that lagging ticket sales played a role, but this might be bigger: Tyson is suing promoter Live Nation and its financial services firm, claiming his financial advisor embezzled money from him and they tried to cover it up.
The full lawsuit is below. It claims Brian Ourand, who was tasked with handling Tyson's money by SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises, embezzled $300,000 from him over the years, and when it was discovered, simply gave Tyson a different advisor without telling him what had happened. SFX, the suit further alleges, returned some of Tyson's money but refused to give him a full accounting, so he had only their word to go on that there wasn't more. They also allegedly asked him to sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep the scandal from going public.
If true, it's sad news for a guy who's been taken advantage of many times over his career. The suit states:
The Tysons trusted Defendant Ourand and Defendant SFX/Live Nation. Defendant SFX/Live Nation convinced Mr. Tyson to retain its services by claiming it would treat him different than the string of managers and financial advisors before it, who previously defrauded and stole from Mr. Tyson and squandered his fortune. The Tysons trusted Defendants so much that Defendant Ourand was appointed to manage the Tysons' bankruptcy trust and Defendant Ourand even attended the Tysons' wedding. In addition, SFX gave Defendant Ourand full access to sign checks and total authority over the Tysons's accounts.
The alleged embezzlements came at a bad time—when Tyson was trying to fight his way out of bankruptcy. Because of this, the suit says, Tyson was forced to borrow money and reach an unfavorable settlement with his creditors, and turn down unspecified financial opportunities because of it.
Tyson is seeking in excess of $5 million in damages.
Additional reporting by Kim Francesca.