Pulte Family Alleges Incoming COO of PulteGroup Used Twitter- Based Bot Network to Target Pulte Family

Bill Pulte and family file defamation suit against PulteGroup executive.

BOCA RATON, Fla., Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pulte Family, the founding family of Fortune 500 PulteGroup Inc, has filed a civil complaint against recently named COO, Brandon Jones, for tortiously interfering, stalking, harassing, and defaming the company's founder, William J. Pulte (1932-2018), his grandson Bill Pulte, and his family through Jones' creation of a sophisticated network of Twitter bots.

The Pulte Family has called for an independent investigation firewalled off from executives to assess the extent to which company and shareholder resources were used in Jones' alleged illicit behavior.

Bill Pulte, a former independent member of the Board of Directors of PulteGroup, took this action, he said, in order to "protect the legacy of Pulte Homes, my grandfather who was my mentor and partner, as well as my own reputation and to prevent Jones from doing irreparable harm through his continued spreading of vicious lies." He believes that Jones held an eight-year grudge dating back to when the Pulte duo took on executives at the company ousting Jones' boss, former CEO Richard Dugas in 2016. Bill Pulte also led the opposition to the expedited promotion of Jones in late 2018, winning unanimous board approval in blocking CEO Ryan Marshall's request.

The more than 100-page complaint alleges that Jones used a variety of fake Twitter profiles to harass Pulte and his followers. These fake profiles included appropriating the full identity of a deceased man, "Raymond Porter" of Olive Hill, Kentucky, who passed away on October 28, 2018, AI-generated profiles of males and females, posing as a fictitious business journalist covering PulteGroup, and numerous other pseudonymous identities all allegedly belonging to Brandon Jones.

It is alleged that Jones made representations about the company without disclosing his identity or connections to PulteGroup discussing employee layoffs, past and future performance, and what is believed to be internal board conversations he was not a party to, in violation of both PulteGroup and SEC guidelines.

The end goal of the Pulte Family's lawsuit against this senior executive, amongst other claims, is to rid any cancerous actions that could jeopardize the future of the Pulte Homes and the company's amazing employees.

"The Pulte Family, the founding family of PulteGroup, is utterly shocked that this behavior is being done by a Fortune 500 Executive, especially at our beloved Pulte Homes, and we have asked the independent board members of PulteGroup, who each have the ability to exercise their fiduciary duties to assist in any investigation to determine if any crimes were committed by Brandon Jones, including his undisclosed promotion of PulteGroup stock and information that may have been confidential," said Bill Pulte, CEO of Pulte Capital and a Director of PulteGroup from 2016-2020.

See disclaimers for affiliated and unaffiliated organizations: PulteDisclaimers.com or follow the lawsuit's developments at PulteLawsuit.com … The allegations outlined above are from a legal complaint backed by belief and forensic evidence.

Media inquires and whistleblower tips can be submitted to [email protected]

SOURCE The Pulte Family