Timbaland lawsuit: Producer seeks $15 million from former managers

Producer Timbaland is suing two former managers for $15 million in Los Angeles. He claims they mishandled his finances for years.

Timbaland, whose real name is Timothy Zachary Mosley, filed the lawsuit on October 30. He named Gary Marella, his former manager, and Bruce Seckendorf, his former business manager, as defendants. The complaint states that Marella stole millions in unauthorized commissions, fees, and reimbursements. It also says he falsified financial records to hide these actions.

The lawsuit alleges that Seckendorf caused large tax penalties by failing to pay federal taxes. During this time, Seckendorf and Marella paid themselves millions in fees. The unpaid taxes nearly put Timbaland's house into foreclosure. His lawyers wrote that the defendants used their authority to enrich themselves and deplete his assets.

Marella managed Timbaland for almost ten years starting in 2017. During this period, Timbaland sold his song catalog to Hipnosis Songs Fund in 2019. He also sold his stake in the livestream battle series Verzuz. The split between the two began in August of this year. Timbaland said he fired Marella a year before the lawsuit was filed.

The financial dispute overlaps with another legal battle. DJ E Feezy filed a wrongful termination suit against Timbaland in a Florida court in August. Timbaland blames Marella's financial impropriety for E Feezy being let go. He also accused Marella of taking funds from Beatclub, a joint venture they launched in 2021 to help producers sell beats. Timbaland said Marella treated him like a piggy bank to fix problems Marella created.

Marella denied the accusations. He said Timbaland was already in a bad financial place when Marella began managing him in 2017. Marella stated that he came in to help rebuild the business. He claimed that the two generated roughly $75 million in business over the approximately nine years he worked with Timbaland.