New York Islanders owner Charles Wang may have thought history never repeats itself, but now he knows it does.
Hedge-fund investor and former class-action lawyer Andrew Barroway sued him this week in Manhattan Supreme Court for allegedly reneging on a deal to sell him the team.
This is not the first time Barroway has sued Wang.
As a class-action lawyer, Barroway sued Wang’s Computer Associates, and Wang personally, in 1998 for artificially inflating revenues. That case settled five years later.
Wang, when reaching a deal to sell the team to Barroway for $420 million in March, should have known that Barroway might have trouble raising the money, sources said.
Last month, Wang allegedly walked away saying he would shop the team to other suitors. Barroway said he had the money, though several sources doubt that is true.
Barroway, by suing him, will likely make it hard for Wang to find another buyer until the suit is resolved, sources said.
Perhaps, there will be another settlement between the two.