A TECH Billionaire has spoken about the collapse and bankruptcy of his airline company in court.
Larry Ellison was one of Island Air’s co-owners before the company collapsed in 2017.
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A federal court case has taken place as owners dispute whose responsibility it was to save the airline based in Hawaii, according to Hawaii News Now.
Island Air abruptly shut down six years ago as it gave employees just two days’ notice.
The collapse left 400 employees unpaid.
Ellison, the co-founder of tech giant Oracle, testified under oath at a U.S. District Court in Hawaii on Wednesday about his role in the collapse.
The billionaire claimed that he was unaware of the extent of the company’s financial troubles and alleged he would have stepped in if he had known earlier.
He said: “We had no idea they had laid off employees without paying them.”
Ellison owned one-third of the airline along with a team financed by Panda Travel’s CEO Jack Tsui.
The tech billionaire claimed that he expected Jack Tsui to invest more money into their business.
Ellison said: “We wanted Jack Tsui to fund it before we did to pressure him to keep his commitments.”
Tsui testified that he did not have more money to give, which led his team to file for bankruptcy liquidation.
Ellison also blamed his rival Hawaiian Air for driving his company into bankruptcy and out of business.
He claimed the rival offered discounted tickets to customers and parked its planes next to Island Air’s smaller aircrafts.
Ellison said Hawaiian “did everything they could to run us out of business.”
He also told the jury that he bought into the airline in 2013 to provide high-quality services from Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu to his resorts on Lanai Island.
Ellison lost over $67million on the airline business.
The court could find Ellison and his former business partners responsible for over $30million in penalties, debts, unpaid wages, and punitive damages.
The airline’s former staff were left shocked by the sudden closure in 2017 and are attempting to retrieve backpay and damages.
This trial is scheduled to last until October 27.