An arbitrator has ruled in favor of Vanessa Bryant and multiple companies associated with her and late husband Kobe Bryant after a former employee sued for millions, claiming the Lakers legend had “verbally promised” her a stake in his investment in the BodyArmor sports drink company.
A lawyer representing Vanessa Bryant and three companies — Kobe Inc., Kobe Investments, LLC and 17/21 Investments, LLC — submitted a petition to confirm the arbitration award to Orange County Superior Court on Monday.
The documents, reviewed by The Times, show JAMS arbitrator Shirish Gupta awarded Bryant and the other parties more than $1.5 million for attorney’s fees and nominal damages and that former Kobe Inc. president Molly Carter agrees that the matter has been resolved.
According to the petition, “Carter sued the Bryant family for many millions of dollars, asserting that, mere months before his passing, Kobe Bryant ‘verbally promised’ her equity in his largest investment, the sports drink company, BodyArmor.”
Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26, 2020, in Calabasas.
Carter worked at Kobe Inc. from April 2015 to September 2020. In 2017, she and the company signed an agreement that stated any potential differences involving the two parties would be arbitrated rather than litigated before courts. A copy of that agreement and a copy of Gupta’s written decision were included with the documents filed in court this week.
Bryant invested $6 million in BodyArmor in 2013 and received approximately 10% of the company and a seat on the board of directors, the documents state. In 2021, Coca-Cola purchased BodyArmor, which was valued at $8 billion at the time.
The court documents state that Carter asked for an equity interest in Bryant’s investment in BodyArmor three times between 2017 and 2020; those requests were denied by Bryant each time.
Carter testified that in July 2019 Bryant told her she would receive a 2%…