There are lawsuits involving business disputes, family conflicts or both. There are lawsuits attempting to turn personal conflicts into geopolitical issues. And there's his case. Alki David, which is in itself a category of its own.
Greek-British businessman Alkis David, heir of the Leventis family who built huge fortunes with Coca-Cola and has long been one of the most eccentric figures of the international business world, testified before him Supreme Court of Antigua – Barbuda a lawsuit of such extent and peculiarity that the court itself ended up describing it too extensive as an arrest and rejecting it.
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In fact, it is one of those cases where the judicial language becomes as kind as it can, in order to describe something extremely unusual, if not unprecedented.
Because when in an application there are Disney, Paramount, JPMorgan, famous American lawyers, California judges, Antigua politicians, and a billion dollar coal rights plan, then the result reminds of less conventional business difference and more of a global map of alleged conspiracy.
The «green» 8 billion dollar coral and sea prairie project
At the heart of David's lawsuit against all those responsible - i.e. against the global status quo - a giant environmental project was found, which he presents as an economic plan national significance for Antigua and Barbuda.
In particular, David through the SwissX Sovereign Wealth Fund and in collaboration with the country's government, had developed a program to restore coral reefs and marine meadows around 113 million acres .
Even more impressive is the economic size that David is citing, as he claims the project had annual carbon capture capability approximately 17 to 19 million metric tonnes, value 8 billion dollars per year through carbon emissions trading. And for the next 50 years a job worth $400 billion! Hey!
So far, the case looks like an over-ambitious green investment initiative. However, the sequel turns out to be a - judged by the result failed - attempt to transform a business wreck into conspiracy theory.
David in his lawsuit before the Supreme Court of Antigua Barbuda does not merely argue that he failed business or clashed with competitors. It essentially argues that around the project was organized an international extermination operation with the aim of destroying himself, his companies and what he calls «Carbon credits dominance» Antigua.
In short, it attempts to turn a business dispute into a state sovereignty case.
From Disney and Sony to JPMorgan and California judges: Who David Blames
Seeing who the lawsuit is against, it becomes clear that the businessman wanted to blame the global system almost together for the failure of his operation.
Among the first plaintiffs appear David Boies and Gloria Allred, two of her best known names American law. Next to them are Michael Avenatti and Tom Girardi, persons who have repeatedly engaged in publicity in the US due to many cases and scandals.
The application refers to «Collusion between lawyers, banks, groups media and political actors», with David attempting to present all these combat lawyers as part of a weaponized regulation, i.e. a coordinated use of the judicial system as an extermination tool.
So, they appear as defendants and Paramount, CBS, Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox, Sony, Warner Music and other media industry giants, along with Shari Redstone and leading executives of the American entertainment industry. David's claim is that they were involved in an organized defamatory campaign against him through publications and public exposure.
And while this already seems at least bizarre, the circle of defendants opens even more and raises questions about which lawyer has agreed to file such a lawsuit, since it is also against Bank (and their CEOs), such as JPMorgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, Bank of America and UBS, along with leading bankers such as Jamie Dimon and Jane Fraser.
Treatment also includes Political persons of Antigua Barbuda and officials of the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), with David suggesting that even internal political mechanisms in Antigua operated coordinatedly to undermine his projects. So the story of the lawsuit is not limited to a business or court conflict, but it is now expanding into the political field.
And as if it wasn't quite a paradox, they even appear on the list. Judges the Los Angeles Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal, and the JAMS Arbitration arbitration body.
By reading the accusations that David invokes, the reasonable question arises whether it is a real legal difference or a narrative in which almost every powerful institution that has come into conflict with the businessman eventually forms part of a single plan to prosecute him.
Charges and global conspiracy
The legal basis of the lawsuit itself follows precisely that logic.
The starting point is defamation, with the application making reference to «publication of false and harmful statements worldwide». David essentially argues that his public image was destroyed through coordinated attacks and that this defamation had direct economic consequences for his business activities.
But the lawsuit does not stay in the classical sense of a defamation lawsuit, but it turns into something much wider. The core of the treatment is the category of Conspiracy (civil conspiracy as described characteristics). David attempts to unite in a single account of lawyers, mid-archs, banking institutions, politicians and even judicial institutions, presenting them as parts of a common mechanism that operated coordinated against him.
It then invokes illegal interference in business relations and agreements as a reason «preventing dominant agreements; and projects marketing of coal rights». The logic here is that the defendants are accused of undermining strategic agreements and funding to collapse the project.
However, the climax of paradoxical arguments comes with the latter category, the supposed «violation of Antigua's sovereign economic rights», with the case gaining a geopolitical dimension. David actually attempts to present the sabotage of carbon-credit projects not only as an attack on him, but also as an attack on Antigua's own economic sovereignty.
And I guess that was the drop that overflowed the glass of court patience.
How the court dismissed the suit
The Antigua Supreme Court didn't even get into the essence of complaints. The first thing he examined was whether he even had the authority to try such a vast and internationalised case.
And, as expected, he ended up not having, noting that «None of the defendants seem to reside within jurisdiction and most of the complaints seem to relate to acts that occurred outside Antigua and Barbuda».
However, beyond Jurisdiction of the court, the action rejected and for a much more substantial reason, mainly because of its structure and content, since it was considered «wide-ranging arrest, diffused in form and directed against a large number of foreign persons and entities».
This is a very careful judicial language, but in practice it says something quite clear. That the document looked more like a chaotic theory of international conspiracy than a coherent and specific legal claim.
Indeed, the court saw a lawsuit that glared an international conspiracy theory of the system against a particular businessman, so it had no choice but to question that there was sufficient and specific legal basis.
Eventually, the most impressive element of the case is neither the ambitious carbon credits project nor the billions of dollars invoked by Alkis David. It is the fact that the lawsuit seems to transform every person, institution or organization that collided with him into part of a single global plan of persecution. That is why the court’s decision is of particular interest, not only legal but sociological. Because behind the strict and careful language of the decision, the embarrassment of a court found in front of not an ordinary business dispute is clearly distinguished, but in a narrative where reality, business failure, and conspiracy theory are dangerously involved.
Who is Alkis David?
Alkis David is perhaps the most eccentric and controversial offspring of the well-known business family, the dynasty that has been associated for decades with the bottling of The Coca-Cola Company in Africa through the Leventis-David group. In the international press they often call him «Mr Coca-Cola», although he tried to build a profile beyond the family brand: technology entrepreneur, producer, actor, media personality and social media provocateur.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, with Cypriot and Greek roots, it grew between Africa, Cyprus and London. His fortune was linked to the soda industry, but he turned mainly to media and technology. He founded streaming platforms and online broadcasting, invested in startups and was involved in producing film projects, and also went through small roles in Hollywood. On the internet he became known for excessive appearances, outrageous markets, parties, video with guns, supercars, cannabis and a more general picture «bad billionaire».
The most serious cases that followed him were the court disputes in the US over sexual harassment and labour abuse. Former workers accused him of insulting behavior, obscene messages, and toxic work environments. He denied the charges, but court decisions and compromises cost him tens of millions of dollars.
The first major public «explosion» came in 2019, when a Los Angeles court awarded about $11 million to a former employee for sexual harassment and vindictive dismissal. The woman testified that David had created an environment of constant sexual pressure, with obscene comments, touches and humiliations, while firing her when she did not respond. Mononews then described him as «fakir web impressions» turning his life into a public spectacle.
The case that broke him up financially and communicatively was that of Lauren Reeves. Reeves worked at FilmOn and accused David of recurring abusive behavior: that she was snatched by the neck, forced her into sexual acts and operated as if he were unrelenting due to wealth and power. The California court awarded tens of millions of dollars compensation against him.
In 2024 the Mononews reported reports from Los Angeles Times for a new mammoth decision: About $900 million compensation to a woman who accused him of rape and sexual assaults at a depth of three years. The complaint included allegations that David was using drugs or CBD products to disorient victims, while in one of the most extreme descriptions there was allegedly an attack in the presence of doberman.
These cases also had a direct impact on his property, as creditors moved against his property.
The fight over the house in Spetses
The most discussed Greek history was his villa in Spetses.. The house was considered one of the most iconic properties on the island: Large seaside property in Panagia Armata area, near the Old Port, with multiple buildings and swimming pool. The property was auctioned due to American judicial requirements and eventually sold in 2023 for about 13.1m euros, well above the starting price.
The evidence that made the family thriller case was that a buyer appeared his relative, businessman Christos Leventis. Alkis David broke out publicly, saying his cousin «He slyly grabbed his house.» And he's been trying to get the villa for years. He even stated that he would move court to get her back.
The Spetses had almost symbolic significance for him. There he spent long periods of time with a child, there he took a family vacation, while the house operated as a staff «shelter» away from his life in London, Los Angeles and Caribbean. The villa had hosted celebrity parties, photographs and luxurious holidays with his wife Jennifer Stano.
Generally its public image is a mix of billionaire playboy, internet troll and man who clashed openly with his own family and establishment. Others see him as a self-destructive crash, others as an unconventional character who never wanted to play his role «Serious heir».
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Alkis David: $900 million compensation to a worker – raped her in the presence of a... Doberman
