Russell Simmons to Recover Part of $350 Million Celsius Stake in 1MDB Forfeiture Case

Russell Simmons will recover an undisclosed portion of nearly 10 million shares in energy drink maker Celsius Holdings under a federal settlement resolving a years-long ownership fight tied to the 1MDB corruption case against former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner.

The disputed Celsius stake was worth more than $350 million at Tuesday’s closing price. A settlement approved Monday in Brooklyn federal court awards portions of the shares to Simmons, his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons and another claimant, while the Justice Department will retain the remainder as forfeiture proceeds.

Part of Simmons’ recovery is already designated for creditors. Court records from 2025 showed that the Def Jam co-founder owed more than $11 million in overdue settlement payments to six women, several of whom have publicly accused him of sexual assault.

Agreements tied to the stock recovery earmark at least $8.6 million for four of those creditors. The allocations include $5.7 million for Tina Klein-Baker, $512,000 for Wendy Franco and $1.2 million each for Sheri Abernathy and Sil Lai Abrams.

The Celsius dispute traces back to a $3 million investment made in 2015 through Nu Horizons Investment Group, a company Simmons formed and later co-managed with Leissner. The investment purchased roughly 3.3 million Celsius shares.

A three-for-one stock split in 2023 nearly tripled the number of shares at issue. With Celsius closing Tuesday at $35.40, the disputed holdings have grown into a stake valued at more than $350 million.

Their ownership became entangled with the federal prosecution of Leissner, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy charges involving bribery and money laundering in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, commonly known as 1MDB.

Federal prosecutors accused participants in the scheme of diverting billions of dollars raised for the Malaysian government investment fund. Leissner agreed to a $43.7 million forfeiture judgment as part of his criminal case.

Prosecutors traced proceeds from the 1MDB crimes to the $3 million used to purchase the Celsius shares and moved to seize the stock. Simmons, Kimora Lee Simmons and other claimants then sought to establish that they had legitimate ownership interests in property the government was trying to forfeit.

Federal criminal forfeiture allows the government to seize property connected to criminal activity. A person other than the defendant can challenge the seizure by showing a valid legal interest in the property.

The proceeding does not require that person to have been involved in the underlying crime. The dispute instead turns on ownership and whether the claimant’s rights to the property are legally superior to the government’s forfeiture interest.

Simmons asserted claims both personally and through Nu Horizons. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie dismissed his direct claim to the Celsius shares but allowed him to continue pursuing the stock through a claim brought on behalf of the investment company.

Kimora Lee Simmons pursued a competing claim. She maintained that she was entitled to nearly 900,000 shares funded with money from her modeling and fashion businesses.

Russell Simmons also accused his ex-wife and Leissner of improperly taking control of his interest in the Celsius investment. Both denied his allegations.

The competing claims produced years of litigation over the ownership and transfer of the stock before the parties reached the settlement approved this week.

Simmons’ recovery also intersects with separate disputes over settlement payments to women who accused him of sexual misconduct.

In late 2023 and early 2024, Simmons agreed to pay a combined $10.5 million to Tonie Sallie, Klein-Baker, Abernathy and Abrams, who had publicly accused him of rape. He reached separate settlements totaling $800,000 with Alexia Jones and Franco over claims that were not publicly detailed.

Simmons has consistently denied allegations of rape, sexual assault and other sexual misconduct.

Court records from 2025 said most of the settlement payments remained overdue, leaving Simmons with more than $11 million in outstanding obligations to the six women. Several pursued efforts to collect the money.

As the Celsius forfeiture dispute moved toward settlement, Simmons agreed to designate portions of the shares he recovered for some of those debts. The latest filings identify allocations for Klein-Baker, Franco, Abernathy and Abrams but do not disclose whether comparable arrangements were reached with Sallie or Jones.

Monday’s settlement also gives Kimora Lee Simmons an undisclosed portion of the Celsius shares. Another portion will go to a longtime friend and investment associate of Leissner, with the remaining stock retained by the federal government.

Leissner will receive none of the shares. He is serving a two-year federal prison sentence for his role in the 1MDB scheme and is separately going through divorce proceedings with Kimora Lee Simmons.