Free Republic

<p>A public relations war is waged as the two sides await a ruling on appeal.</p> <p>A jury decided Bill Simon's company committed fraud in a botched pay phone deal and awarded its former partner $78 million, but the ruling hasn't stopped the parties from bad-mouthing one another.</p>

Quick summary of article: The Simon family runs a venture capital firm, which invested in Pacific Coin. Bill Simon opposed the venture, saying that it would suffer from competition with cellular phones, which is in fact what happened. Other family members thought differently, so the investment was made. A major clause in the agreement gave Ed Hindelang 23% of the company and effective veto power over any investments, mergers or public offerings. Hindelang did not use this power, and in fact enthusiastically participated in the deals that lead to the company's demise. He was fired as CEO when his felony...