A judge has ordered Phones4U founder John Caudwell to pay £471,000 to his former financial adviser.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who sold his mobile phone company for £1.5bn in 2006, was sued by Nathalie Dauriac, the former chief executive of wealth management company Signia Wealth.
The High Court case focused on her allegations Mr Caudwell orchestrated a campaign to oust her from Signia and to expropriate shares at a low value.
On Tuesday (8 May), the High Court dismissed a number of her claims against Mr Caudwell but told him to pay her £471,000 for the value of her shares allocated by Signia.
Mr Justice Marcus Smith ruled that Ms Dauriac was entitled to the payment but found there was no evidence for her claims of an "elaborate conspiracy" by Mr Caudwell.
The judge also called Ms Dauriac a "remarkably unsatisfactory witness" and "prone to exaggeration", adding that he placed "little reliance" on her testimony.
She claims she lost more than £10m of shares.
Mr Caudwell denied this and said Ms Dauriac was suspended in late 2014 after an investigation into her work expenses.
The probe found claims for a flight to Málaga for a friend’s birthday and a birthday cake for her ex-husband.
Both sides disputed the allegations made against them.
But Mr Justice Smith said the investigation by Signia into Ms Dauriac's expenses "arose out of an entirely proper concern".
He added that when it came to some of Ms Dauriac's expense claims there was "quite simply, no explanation consistent with honesty" and he was sure she deliberately made claims she knew were not proper.
The judge described Mr Caudwell as a "reliable witness" and as a "formidable man, who clearly knew his own mind and was, in my judgment capable of acting decisively, even ruthlessly".
Ms Dauriac had met Mr Caudwell while she was a relationship banker at Coutts and co-founded Signia Wealth with him in 2009.
He became godfather to her first child until their friendship foundered, causing her to leave Signia in January 2015.
In a statement, Mr Caudwell said he remained "deeply scarred by the events" but wanted to put the "deeply upsetting chapter" behind him.
He said: "The British legal system has delivered justice and lived up to its reputation as the very best in the world."
But he said he disagreed with the judge’s £471,000 valuation of Ms Dauriac's shares.
Ms Dauriac, who had been seeking £20m, said: "I am very pleased that the judge has today upheld my claim of constructive dismissal and found that the shares that were taken away from me and valued at just £2 were, in fact, worth more than £500,000."
