Justin Sun Sues Music Mogul David Geffen Over $78M Sculpture Dispute

Tron founder Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against American film producer and record executive David Geffen in a bid to reclaim an Alberto Giacometti sculpture or get up to $80 million in damages.

Sun lodged the complaint in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, alleging the bronze Le Nez sculpture, which he previously owned, had been stolen and sold to the entertainment mogul without his consent.

Sun Claims Aide Stole His Sculpture

The crypto entrepreneur claims that a former employee, Xiong Zihan Sydney, who had been his art advisor, masterminded the theft and subsequent sale of the artwork to Geffen.

Le Nez, which has been authenticated by the Giacometti Committee, was conceived by the artist between 1947 and 1949 and cast in 1965. Sun bought the sculpture for $78.4 million at a November 2021 auction of real estate developer Harry Macklowe’s art collection.

The 34-year-old says he intended to donate it to the Singapore-based ApeNFT Foundation, which focuses on blockchain-based fractional-ownership art investments. However, he never completed the transfer; instead, he allowed the sculpture to be exhibited virtually by the organization.

He later lent it to the Giacometti Foundation for an exhibition in Paris, where it was shown through January 2024. According to the lawsuit, soon after the artwork returned from France to Sun’s storage facility in Singapore, Xiong hatched a plot to steal it and sell it to Geffen, using her position to misrepresent the ownership of the piece and forge his signature on sale documents.

She allegedly introduced a fake Chinese lawyer named “Laura Chang” to validate the transaction, which involved swapping Le Nez for two pieces of art from the music magnate’s collection with a combined value of $55 million. The deal also included an extra $10.5 million in cash, bringing the total to $65.5 million.

Sun admits that he had considered selling the suspended bronze figure, but he wanted to recoup the $78.4 million he paid for it. The Liberland Prime Minister says he asked Xiong to keep an eye out for anyone that would pay at least $80 million for the piece, but he never authorized her to execute a sale on his behalf.

His legal team is arguing that Geffen should have identified red flags before concluding the deal, including the involvement of a lawyer conducting business using a personal Gmail account. They also claim that Xiong confessed to the fraud in May 2024, admitting to pocketing $500,000 from the deal.

Geffen Refutes Claims

However, Geffen’s lawyer, Tibor Nagy, has dismissed the allegations against his client as nothing more than “seller’s remorse,” calling the lawsuit “bizarre and baseless.” He stressed that the movie producer had no direct contact with Sun’s art advisor and that the transaction was conducted through intermediaries.

This is not the first time that Sun, who is the biggest investor in the President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, is in the news over art-related matters. In November last year, he made waves after spending $6.2 million on Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, a banana duct-taped to the wall, and eating it soon after.