A Florida media consultant has sued former Vice President Al Gore, claiming he presented the idea to sell Current TV to Al Jazeera last summer and should get a cut from the $500 million deal, according to
The Hollywood Reporter.
John Terenzio filed the lawsuit Tuesday in California Superior Court in San Francisco and is seeking damages of at least $5 million.
In the court filing, a copy of which was obtained by the Reporter, Terenzio claims that on or about June 2012, he identified Current TV as a suitable acquisition target for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera and presented the idea to Richard Nanula, the principal of Colony Capital, a California private investment firm.
Terenzio then claims that “at his direction,” Nanula approached Current TV board member Richard Blum with the idea for the sale and ultimately arranged a meeting between Terenzio and Blum. At that meeting, Terenzio said he proposed the sale and floated the suggestion to rebrand the channel as Al Jazeera America, according to the Reporter.
Terenzio goes on to claim his proposal to Blum was based on a “mutual understanding” that he would be compensated if a sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera was completed.
The lawsuit claims that Blum and other investors were “eager” to sell the network and recoup their investment and that Blum said the proposal would be presented to Gore who, according to the lawsuit, originally rejected the sale, which was announced in January.
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