Larry Hagman, the actor who played filthy rich J.R. Ewing on the 1980s show "Dallas," is about to collect a whopping $11 million from Citigroup, after a federal panel ruled the bank's investment arm engaged in "serious misconduct" while managing his money.
The 79-year-old actor, who also played Maj. Anthony Nelson on "I Dream of Jeanie," was awarded $10 million in punitive damages that Citi must pay to charities selected by Hagman, $1.1 million in compensatory damages and nearly $440,000 in legal fees.
Hagman had requested $1.35 million in damages, Reuters reported. He could not be reached for comment.
Hagman accused Citi in May 2009 of a breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, fraud by misrepresentation and omission, failure to supervise and violation of federal and state law, according to the ruling by an arbitration panel of FINRA, a self-regulatory body of the U.S. financial industry.
The allegations stemmed from unspecified securities held in Citi accounts, as well as the purchase of a life insurance policy.
Hagman received the unusually large award after the arbitrators found Citigroup Global Markets "engaged in serious misconduct," meeting FINRA's standards for punitive damages, the ruling said.
"We are disappointed and disagree with the panel's finding and we are reviewing our options," said Citigroup spokesman Alex Samuelson.
U.S. & World
Selected Reading: Reuters, IMDb, LarryHagman.com.
