Can I option the movie rights?
I'll promise to use Akamai to deliver the content when it goes straight to streaming.
The next time someone accuses you of being a bad son-in-law, you can counter with the case of retired Akamai chairman and CEO George Conrades, who just sued his daughter's ex-husband in an attempt to recover millions in unpaid business loans. Conrades, who led Akamai for nearly two decades before retiring in 2018, accuses [PDF …
Even if Baer keeps the money, Conrades won't be seriously hurting. He owns US$8.8 ~ 9 million worth of stuff as of 10 November 2023. My sympathy is reserved for a poor guy who was robbed of the last of his money, and will consequently be sleeping under the skies, instead of sleeping under a watertight roof.
While I'm not saying I sympathize with either one of them — I don't know any more than what's in the article — "own[ing] US$8.8 ~ 9 worth of stuff" doesn't necessarily mean all that much in the USA today. My wife and I together "own" ~ $1M in real estate and improvements,1 and our combined retirement accounts probably have a notional value around $2M (haven't looked at hers recently). That doesn't mean we're rolling in discretionary income, or that another $18M, or even 1% of that, wouldn't be appreciated.
In other words, the sum of Conrades' possessions doesn't say anything about his net worth, and his net worth says nothing about his cash flow.
To your larger point, sure, I too worry a great deal more about folks who are destitute or having difficulties getting by, than I do about the notionally or actually wealthy. I'm just pointing out that with what's in the article and what you posted (without sources or details) we don't know much about Conrades' financial situation, and less about Baer's.
Moreover there are the small matters of fairness and the rule of law. It does sound like someone's in the wrong here, and should be compelled by the courts to follow the rules. Contracts exist for a reason — either these are being misrepresented or are invalid for one reason or another, or Baer is attempting to get out of his legal obligations.
1Oh, there are those pesky mortgage lienholders; but legally, we own it.