Fame and fortune attract more than the flashing cameras of the paparazzi – like frivolous lawsuits.
Greentech venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was slapped with just such a suit last year, Private Equity HUB reported this week
South Carolina prison inmate Jonathan Lee Riches sought $43 million for alleged civil-rights violations by Khosla.
The complaint, in Riches' own words: “Khosla’s fund invests in prison buildings. I’m suffering from no medical treatment. This is a conspiracy. Bhutto was killed on my birthday. I can’t see outside, this is unconstitutional. I seek $43 million.”
Khosla is just one of 12 defendants listed in the lawsuit, which seeks various amounts of money, ranging from $5 million to $99 million, from each defendant.
In addition to race-car driver Dario Franchitti and his wife, actress Ashley Judd, Steve Fambro, CEO of electric-vehicle company Aptera, is also named in the suit.
Riches accused Fambro, along with his company, of not giving him a long-sleeved shirt to stay warm and requested $7 million.
A federal district court dismissed the suit in February.
Riches has a history of airing his grievances, no matter how outlandish, in the legal system. He has already filed more than 160 cases in the same court since December, according to the latest ruling.
Previous defendants in Riches' suits have included President Bush, AccuWeather.com, rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, the Gambino crime family, the Magna Carta, the Vatican, the Taliban, dead writer George Orwell, Pizza Hut, hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan, the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, to name but a few.