A New York man is suing his ex-wife, from whom he's been divorced nearly seven years, over some early equity in Twitter that she purchased before they were divorced. He seems to have only recently found out that she was an early investor and now owns a chunk of stock worth $10 to $50 million, and he considers it a marital asset.
The woman in question is Jennifer Johnson, CEO of a NY company called Visible Market, and she flew out to California to meet with her first husband Greg Kidd in 2006 along with "one or more Twitter founders," likely including Kidd's longtime friend Jack Dorsey. Johnson then became an early investor in the company without the knowledge of her husband Stuart Strumwasser, from whom she filed for divorce about six months later.
Twitter just made an initial public offering this month at $26 per share, and that price has already risen to $40.
As the NY Daily News reports, Strumwasser is demanding 30 percent of Johnson's stock, as well as some other stuff.
The 47-year-old Carroll Gardens dad, an indie musician who launched a natural soda brand, is furious that Johnson invested in the profitable company months before they divorced in 2007 ... [She] still forced him to make $2,465 a month in child-support payments despite his modest income...He wants back $120,000 [in child support], plus 30% of her Twitter shares, he said. Strumwasser said his ex has bragged online for years about being an early investor in Twitter, which she lists on her LinkedIn page.
Well, he may or may not have a case. But one things for sure: Bitterness never dies.
