Carl Freer

Carl Freer
Born Carl Johan Freer
(1970-05-09) 9 May 1970
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality Swedish
Occupation Entrepreneur, businessman

Carl Johan Freer (born 9 May 1970) is a Swedish businessman and technology entrepreneur primarily known for founding the American company Tiger Telematics, which created the handheld game console Gizmondo.[1][2] Freer is also the founder of Singapore-based medical-device company, Aluminaid and co-author of several patents.[3][4]

Business ventures

Freer founded Tiger Telematics, an electronics company that launched in 2002, raised over £160 million, and reached a market cap over $1 billion[5] before it dissolved in 2006.[6] He managed the development, launch and promotion of the Gizmondo. Freer was Chairman of the Tiger Telematics board of directors until he resigned[7] in October 2005 pending publication of an article in the Swedish press.[8][9] By 6 February 2006, the company was forced into compulsory liquidation and Gizmondo was discontinued.[10][11] Other ventures included Xero Mobile—which had a service that automatically billed advertisers based on the number of marketing messages viewed by users—and Getfugu, which developed an application that enabled consumers to retrieve web content without typing a website address or search term into a browser.[12][13] Freer co-founded a crowdsourcing networking website for filmmakers, financiers, actors and fans called FilmFunds as well as the Family Tree Foundation. [14][15][16] In 2008, Carl Freer hosted a seminar at Georgia Institute of Technology entitled "High Tech Ventures in Mobile Gaming and Media". Freer discussed his experiences, his plans for a potential rebirth of Gizmondo as well as his plans for the development of new mobile video technologies. The event took place as part of GA Tech's GVU Center Lecture series. [17] [18] [19] Later that year, a relaunch of Gizmondo was aborted. [20] In 2010, Freer co-founded Aluminaid, which makes metal-based bandages to relieve pain in patients with first- and second-degree burns.[4]

Legal issues

In 2005, Freer was fined £135,000 by a court in Stuttgart, Germany for canceling check payments in a transaction with a car dealer.[9] Freer claimed he cancelled the cheques because he "thought he was being sold stolen cars".[1][21][22]

In 2006, no charges were filed after Los Angeles police found a collection of twelve rifles and four handguns at Freer's home in an investigation that led to his arrest on suspicion of impersonating a San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority police officer to buy a .44 Magnum handgun. Authorities dropped the investigation after Freer established that he did not impersonate a police officer and showed a valid gun permit.[9][21][23]

In 2009, the law firm Patton Boggs on behalf of clients David Warnock and Simon Davies, filed an action alleging violations of the civil RICO Act against GetFugu, Carl Freer, and other officers and directors of GetFugu.[24] The firm followed the lawsuit with a press release that falsely claimed that GetFugu and Carl Freer were being investigated by the FBI.[25] In 2010, on a motion by GetFugu, District Court Judge George H. King dismissed Patton Boggs' claims with prejudice.[24][26] GetFugu and Freer then countersued Patton Boggs for defamation and malicious prosecution, seeking damages of over $500 million. Patton Boggs filed a special motion to strike the defamation claim, contending that the press release regarding the alleged FBI investigation, even if false, was protected by litigation privilege,[24][26] but the California Court of Appeals disagreed, allowing Freer and GetFugu to proceed with the $500 million lawsuit against Patton Boggs.[26] Patton Boggs' special motion to strike the malicious prosecution claim was also denied, holding that Patton Boggs did not have probable cause to prosecute the RICO claims.[24][26]

In October 2015, Carl Freer unsuccessfully sued Danish Television Channel DR3 to have his name removed from a documentary on the Stein Bagger IT Factory fraud case prior to broadcast.[27] Following the documentary broadcast, he filed defamation claims against 5 employees of DR.[28]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Jeffrey Fleishman; Richard Winton (2006-05-15). "Life in Fast Lane Long Before the Ferrari Crash". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (6 August 2012). "A Horse named Gizmondo: The Inside Story of the World's Greatest Failed Console". Euro Gamer. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "How to treat burns". Esquire Magazine - Malaysia Ed. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Aluminaid: The New Frontier of Aluminum". King's Road Magazine. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Game Maker Finds Itself Short of Cash and Admirers". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bad Tech: CEOs who fell from grace". T3. 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  7. ↑ "Life in Fast Lane Long Before Ferrari Crash". Los Angeles Times. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Smith, Tony (2005-10-27). "Gizmondo executives quit under cloud". The Register.
  9. 1 2 3 Randall Sullivan (2006-10-01). "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up". Wired Magazine.
  10. ↑ "Gizmondo Europe goes into liquidation". Pocket-Lint. 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  11. ↑ Snow, Blake (2011-06-07). "The 10 Worst Selling Handhelds Of All Time". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  12. ↑ "Carl Freer bakom nytt miljardbolag". Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Augmented Reality Makes Commercial Headway". Scientific American. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "FilmFunds Acquires 3D Conversion Specialists Duran Duboi U.S.". Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  15. ↑ "FilmFunds to Use Crowdsourcing to Pitch 3D Conversions (Exclusive)". The Wrap Covering Hollywood. The Wrap News Inc. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  16. ↑ "FilmFunds buys post house - Crowdsourcing venture wants to be one-stop shop". Variety (magazine). Reed Business Information. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  17. ↑ smith, Tony (2008-05-13). "Gizmondo console revamp 'on track' for Q4 launch, claims boss". The Register.
  18. ↑ "GVU Brown Bag - Carl Freer". Georgia Tech GVU Center.
  19. ↑ Fahey, Mike (2008-03-06). "Liveblogging The Gizmondo GA Tech Lecture". Kotaku.
  20. ↑ Gillett, Nick (2009-01-10). "Games news: Gizmondo 'relaunch' off". The Guardian.
  21. 1 2 Anthony James, Michael Gillard (2006-05-21). "The firm that blew it all in two years". London: The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 2007-02-12.
  22. ↑ "Freer Dreamed of an Empire". Ekonomi. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  23. ↑ Richard Winton; David Pierson (2006-04-27). "2nd Arrest Made in Ferrari Case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Lessons From Patton Boggs Defamation Case". Law360. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2014.(subscription required)
  25. ↑ "Patton Boggs Settles with Chevron". The Hill. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Hansen, Mark T.; Robert B. Milligan (25 October 2013). "Allegedly false statements posted on internet regarding pending litigation can support defamation claim". Lexology. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  27. ↑ Nielsen, Silas Bay. "Byret giver DR3 grønt lys til at sende Stein Bagger-dokumentar" [City Court gives DR3 green light to broadcast Stein Bagger documentary] (in Danish). DR.dk.
  28. ↑ Lohse, Gregers. "Fem DR-medarbejdere stævnet for Stein Bagger-serie" [Five DR-employees sued for Stein Bagger Series] (in Danish). DR.dk.
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