Bill Gross’ 43-year career with Pacific Investment Management Co. ended with a handwritten resignation letter left “in the middle of the night,” according to a new court filing from the money-management giant.
The famed bond investor exited Pimco’s Newport Beach, Calif., office for the last time in late September 2014 without telling anyone he was leaving, according to Pimco.
The note executives found on Sept. 26, 2014, was addressed to “CEO, PIMCO” and stated: “This letter will confirm my resignation from PIMCO as of Sept. 26th, 2014 at 6:29 AM PST,” Pimco said in its filing, attaching the note as an exhibit. The letter was signed “William H. Gross.”
The resignation letter was among the new disclosures from Pimco on Monday in its first detailed version of Gross’ abrupt departure from the firm he co-founded in 1971. The claims were part of a larger response to breach-of-contract allegations Gross made in an October 2015 civil lawsuit.
Gross, known formerly as the “bond king” for his long and successful tenure as an investor, left Pimco after tension grew among executives, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Gross claimed in his lawsuit that former colleagues forced him out to advance their own careers and capture some of his large bonus. The suit asked for at least $200 million in damages.
But Pimco claimed on the eve of Gross’ Sept. 26 departure that Gross met with the firm’s chief executive and general counsel and admitted he wouldn’t be eligible for his bonus if he left before the end of the month, according to the filing.
Hours later, “in the middle of the night,” Gross left the handwritten resignation note, according to Pimco.
Executives at the firm learned of Gross’ departure from a morning news release issued by his new employer, Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc. They found the resignation letter after the release went out, according to the filing.
Patricia Glaser, an attorney for Gross, said of the new Pimco filing: “Very defensive, nothing remotely new.”
“This lawsuit is about a money grab,” added Glaser. “As Bill is alleging in his lawsuit, a handful of executives at Pimco acted improperly and unethically in order to get a bigger piece of the pie.”
Monday’s court filing from Pimco was the first time the firm offered details about the circumstances of Gross’ departure. The firm had previously requested that the suit be dismissed and referred to Gross’ complaint as “legally groundless” and a “sad postscript” to a storied career.
Pimco also said Gross received about $300 million from the company over the course of 2013, a previously unreported figure.
