Curt Schilling, 38 Studios Execs Agree To $2.5 Million Settlement With Rhode Island

Curt Schilling and other former 38 Studios executives have reached a $2.5 million settlement with the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. over his failed video game studio, the Associated Press reports. Assuming the judge overseeing the case signs off on the settlement, it will be paid in full by 38 Studios’ insurance company.

In 2010, the state of Rhode Island guaranteed a $75 million loan to entice the then-Massachusetts-based 38 Studios to relocate to Rhode Island, where they promised to create 450 jobs. Less than two years later 38 Studios was bouncing checks, and eventually the entire staff was laid off and the company filed for bankruptcy. The state sued 38 Studios and a host of others involved in the $75 million loan, alleging fraud in obtaining it.

Rhode Island has already settled with a law firm that worked on the deal for $4.4 million, another law firm and former Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation officials for $12.5 million, and Wells Fargo and Barclays for $26.5 million. The agreement with Schilling and other 38 Studios executives raises the total amount of money recovered to about $45 million.

Rhode Island filed court documents saying that, if the case had gone to trial, they would’ve had to try and recover damages from Schilling and the former 38 Studios execs—not the insurance company—and that these defendants don’t have the money:

Lawyers for the Commerce Corp. asked the court to approve the settlement, saying in court documents that it’s a “highly unusual case” in which it “makes no economic sense whatsoever” for the parties to proceed to trial rather than proceed with the proposed settlement.

They said that even if the agency prevailed at trial, the defendants would have exhausted the insurance coverage in paying for the trial and wouldn’t have the personal assets to satisfy a judgment. The state reviewed the defendants’ assets.

Coincidentally, Schilling—who said he lost $50 million of his own money on the failed video game studio and sold off many of his possessions to pay off creditors—lost his $2.5 million annual salary from ESPN this spring after he was fired for an inability to stop sharing hateful memes on social media.

In between arguing on Twitter that a recent Facebook post didn’t call for the summary execution of people before they have been convicted of a crime, Schilling threatened to tell “the whole story” to Rhode Island taxpayers.

[ AP]