security members and manager shoved David to the ground, causing his head to forcefully hit the concrete, Moradi s prosecution claimed, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Marquee security members and manager repeatedly hit and smashed David’s head into the concrete and continually held his head and right eye against the concrete with a high degree of pressure. Jury Doesn t Buy Defense
The Cosmopolitan nightclub case boiled down to whether Moradi actually suffered brain injuries. A Las Vegas neurosurgeon said he did, and diagnosed Moradio with a traumatic brain injury. His lawyers argued that s what led to his hedge fund s collapse.
Cosmopolitan s defense claimed the hedge fund was failing before the incident, and that the victim didn t suffer a brain injury, nor any permanent damage.
The jury sided with Moradi, and the court s $160.5 million award was based on damages and the loss of future wages.
Hedged Bets on CosmopolitanMoradi s $160.5 million payday isn t the first time the Cosmopolitan has been taken by a hedge fund member.
First envisioned in 2004 by Soros Fund Management, the holdings company of billionaire George Soros, and David Friedman, a former Las Vegas Sands executive, the planned $3.9 billion under-construction project went into financial ruin when the 2008 recession hit.
Deutsche Bank eventually took control of the resort, and finally opened the casino 2010. The Cosmopolitan was the only casino to open in Las Vegas that year.
Four years later in 2014, the Blackstone Group bought the property at the discounted price of $1.73 billion. That same year, Blackstone, a private equity asset management company and hedge fund, helped finance Amaya s $4.9 billion buyout of the parent companies to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
Blackstone s founder and CEO Stephen Schwarzman is a longtime Republican, who is also an informal advisor to another man who s owned casinos, President Donald Trump.
