Billion-Dollar Estate Suits Show Hazards of Funding Family Feuds

A litigation financier’s foray into a battle over a dead Saudi businessman’s multibillion dollar estate is a cautionary tale for outside funders investing in family fights.

UK-based Therium Capital, eyeing a cut of a potential 10-figure settlement, bankrolled the wife and daughter of the late Saudi billionaire Osama Ismail Abudawood in an estate fight with his brothers. After at least 18 lawsuits in three countries, the pair are settling for a little more than one-third of what they say they were first allotted under Sharia law. Along the way, they stopped showing up in court, cycled through lawyers, and were ...