Facts

After Dafna Uzyel's husband died, his millions were placed into a trust for the benefit of his children. In 1986, investor Neil Kadisha, currently a principal at Omninet, an investment firm, was hired as trustee to manage the Uzyel family trust. He did so for 12 years. Kadisha was a founding member of Qualcomm. Two cases were brought against Kadisha by Uzyel and her two children with respect to his alleged mismanagement of the trust's funds.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant wrongfully used the money from the trust for his personal benefit when he entered transactions as trustee that conflicted with the interests of the trust. Specifically, the defendant took $300,000 out of the trust and loaned it to Qualcomm. He also made personal investments using money from the trust fund, obtained secret profits and mismanaged the trust.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant denied there was a conflict of interest because as trustee, he had discretion to invest and make management decisions with respect to the trust's funds. Consequently, his management and investment efforts yielded approximately $27 million for the plaintiffs as beneficiaries.

Result

$100 million consisting of $95 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

Other Information

The judgment has been stayed. An appeal is pending.