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LOS ANGELES (CN) — A European billionaire who purchased a 50% stake in a French winery formerly owned by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is back on the hook in a lawsuit over the winery’s ownership following the Hollywood actors’ tumultuous divorce.
Pitt sued Jolie over the sale of her share of Château Miraval to Yuri Shefler, a Russian-born billionaire living in Geneva, Switzerland, in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2022. The lawsuit centers on Pitt’s contention that the former couple had a private understanding that neither would sell their stake in Miraval without the other’s permission.
Shefler, owner of the Stoli Group, the company behind Stolichnaya vodka, argued he was not personally involved in the 2021 sale of Jolie’s interest and that California courts lacked jurisdiction over him.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lia Martin found Pitt failed to present sufficient evidence that Shefler had enough involvement to justify bringing him into the case. But a California Court of Appeal panel reversed that ruling.
“We might agree there is no personal jurisdiction over Shefler if, as he claims, he had a minimal role in the negotiations by European companies in Europe to buy a French vineyard, with jurisdiction based simply on the effect of those negotiations on a California resident and company,” Associate Justice Gail Feuer wrote in the opinion published Wednesday.
The court concluded the evidence showed otherwise.
Shefler directed European representatives from his company and its subsidiaries during the negotiations, played a significant role in the purchase of Jolie’s shares through her company, Nouvel, and guaranteed that $39 million of the purchase price would be paid to Jolie. The agreement to purchase Jolie’s stake also was governed by California law.
“It was these contacts by Shefler with California in purchasing a California company from a California resident that caused the injury to another California resident and California company that is the subject of the lawsuit,” Feuer wrote. “On these facts, Shefler purposefully availed himself of the benefits of a California forum, and the controversy arose out of his contacts with the forum. We reverse.”
The decision marks the latest twist in the sprawling legal battle over Château Miraval, which began in 2022.
The couple purchased the 1,200-acre vineyard in the village of Correns, France, in 2008 through their respective investment companies. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. She initially planned to sell her half of Miraval to Pitt, but negotiations collapsed over Pitt’s insistence that she sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing her from publicly discussing his behavior leading up to their divorce. Jolie described the NDA as an affirmation of Pitt’s wrongdoing and the harm he caused their family.
She instead sold her shares to Shefler. Pitt’s attorneys have argued that the sale allowed a stranger into Pitt’s home and his life’s work.
The appeals court noted that Jolie agreed to transfer her interest in Nouvel, the company that owned the Miraval shares, to Shefler’s subsidiary, Tenute, in exchange for $64 million, including $25 million due at closing.
“Perhaps the most compelling evidence of Shefler’s control of the transaction is the fact that he allowed $39 million of his personal funds to be used as a guarantee for Tenute’s payments to Jolie,” Feuer wrote. “It defies credulity that Shefler, a sophisticated businessman, would risk almost $40 million on a transaction about which he knew nothing and with which he had no involvement.”
Shefler also sent multiple letters to Jolie and later to Pitt regarding the sale.
“Far from inconsequential, these letters demonstrate Shefler’s continuing communications with a California resident and his direct involvement in ensuring the deal was consummated, including his soliciting Jolie’s involvement to address Shefler’s dispute with Pitt (over buying Nouvel), and his negotiating the payment terms under the agreement,” Feuer added. “Similarly, Shefler’s communications with Pitt in October 2021 involved a California resident (Pitt) in discussions about the partnership between two California companies.”
The agreement between Shefler and Jolie also included a provision submitting disputes to state and federal courts in California.
Feuer was joined by Associate Justices John Segal and Natalia Stone.
Attorneys for Jolie, Pitt and their respective companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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