Brothers Alex and Matthew Ferrari, the children of Westinghouse nuclear engineer Harry Ferrari, are at war over their father's tennis business, according to court documents.
Before dying in 2016 at the age of 84 of pancreatic cancer, Harry Ferrari had revolutionized the world of tennis with his nuked tennis racket nylon strings.
Harry Ferrari said that the idea of strengthening the racket's strings with gamma rays came to him during a tournament in the mid-1970s when he claimed he lost a match because of how bad synthetic strings were at the time.
As an engineer himself, he decided to improve on the material available, blasting radiations on the nylon springs and creating an overall superior and more resilient racket. He then commercialized the product which was sold with other tennis gear by Gamma Sports, a family business he founded in his spare time while never quitting his job at Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
When Harry Ferrari died, the family business was meant to be split equally between his two sons, Alex Ferrari claims in a lawsuit—but that didn't happen because Matthew Ferrari allegedly "squeezed" his brother out of the company.
Newsweek has contacted Alex Ferrari's lawyer Robert M. Barnes and Matthew Ferrari's lawyer Brian Must for comment by email on Tuesday.
Matthew Ferrari has worked at the family business since the 1990s and has acted as its CEO since 2005, over 10 years before his father died, while Alex Ferrari had a minor role because "his primary occupation was outside the company," according to the lawsuit.
But despite this, the two acted as directors of the company together while Harry Ferrari was alive, the document read, making all of the "important decisions" together.
According to Alex Ferrari, his father has resisted through the years Matthew Ferrari's attempts to "obtain higher and unreasonable levels of compensation and benefits," while asking him to treat his brother fairly after his passing.
"In a letter to his sons, just before his death, Harry implored Matthew: 'Please make sure that Alex is treated fairly'," the lawsuit reads.
In the lawsuit, filed on August 25, Alex Ferrari accused his brother of having "breached his fiduciary duties to Alex and wrongfully and wilfully unfairly oppressed and squeezed out Alex in multiple ways while exercising control over the company."
Alex Ferrari alleged that his brother inflated his own salary without asking for the former's permission, using the money to support his alleged "lavish lifestyle." He accuses Matthew Ferrari of firing him and terminating his salary together with his position.
According to the court document, Alex Ferrari's attorney accuses his brother of having pocketed $362,536 in excessive compensation through December 31, 2022, and $277,755 through December 31, 2022.
Alex Ferrari is now asking his brother for payment of all requested remedies—which include the harm he said he suffered during the years since his father's death—and "all wrongfully obtained benefits."
An article published on Gamma Sports' blog states that "it was natural" for Matthew Ferrari to take over "the head of household position at Gamma Sports," after his father's death.
"Through the years Matt was able to learn from his dad and spend time with him, which better prepared him for this leadership role," the blog entry reads. The article makes no mention of his brother Alex Ferrari.
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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
