Among Ron Perelman’s four ex-wives, the late Claudia Cohen holds a special place in his heart. After Cohen died in 2007 of ovarian cancer, Perelman donated $20 million to the University of Pennsylvania and had a building named after the onetime gossip columnist. He also initiated a lawsuit on her behalf. In April 2008, acting as Cohen’s executor, Perelman (and his and Claudia’s daughter, Samantha) sued Claudia’s father, Robert Cohen, and her brother, James Cohen, for allegedly cheating Claudia’s estate out of hundreds of millions of dollars. But the lawsuit has been a flop. On Wednesday, Bergen County, N.J.Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz dismissed all the remaining claims (pdf) against Claudia’s father and brother.
Perelman, who was represented by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Lowenstein Sandler, had alleged that Robert Cohen, the former CEO and chairman of the Hudson Group, had verbally promised Claudia half of his and his wife’s estate. Perelman also alleged that James Cohen, the current CEO of the Hudson Group, had used “undue influence” to frustrate that promise by having more than $500 million in assets transferred to him.
