One of Elon Musk’s longtime VCs is suing his former employer after allegedly being fired

Silicon Valley investor Josh Raffaelli, known for backing Elon Musk companies, is taking legal action against his former employer, Brookfield Asset Management, a trillion-dollar AUM firm, as reported by The New York Times.

Raffaelli’s lawsuit revolves around Brookfield’s handling of real estate losses during the pandemic and alleges that he was terminated after reporting misconduct to the SEC. The allegations include fraud and bribery, which Brookfield strongly denies, according to The Times.

Earlier this year, Brookfield closed down Raffaelli’s venture capital unit and merged assets into another division, a move that Raffaelli criticizes in his lawsuit for not investing as much in Musk-owned companies as he had planned.

The suit claims that Raffaelli had agreements to invest in Musk ventures such as SpaceX, xAI, and the Boring Company, with his Brookfield fund heavily supporting Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.

This legal battle marks a public dispute for Raffaelli, who previously worked at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, where Brookfield facilitated investments in Musk ventures like SolarCity, SpaceX, and Tesla.