Pulte grandson sues PulteGroup exec, claiming Twitter trolling
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Bill Pulte, a pioneer in "Twitter philanthropy" and grandson of the late founder of the home-building giant PulteGroup that was started in Detroit, is suing a top PulteGroup executive for allegedly harassing and trolling him on Twitter.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Pulte, 34, now resides after living in metro Detroit, claims that PulteGroup's incoming Chief Operating Officer Brandon Jones held a grudge against Pulte and used several fake identities on Twitter, starting in 2021, to harass him and other Pulte family members.
Pulte has 3.2 million followers on Twitter and is renowned for giving away money to people who message him as well as for helping to raise money for needy individuals, including survivors and victims of the school shooting last May in Uvalde, Texas.
One of the tweets at issue in the lawsuit concerned the February fire at Oakland Hills Country Club, which early on was believed to have started from construction workers using a propane torch against a wall.
On Feb. 17, Bill Pulte tweeted a statement of condolence about the devastating fire and mentioned how his father, Mark Pulte, and his wife, Julie, are members of the club.
According to the lawsuit, Jones replied to that tweet using an alter ego account with a fake name and photo of a deceased man from Kentucky. Jones' reply said, "Are you insinuating your father had something to do with the fire? Was Mark Pulte involved in the fire? Mark Pulte recently bought a competitor course. Is that a coincidence?"
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Jones "tagged" nine other Twitter users, including news reporters, to notify them of that inflammatory tweet, the lawsuit says, and when Jones' alter ego was questioned by another Twitter user — "Why would his dad start the fire??" — the account shared a 2021 news article about the Pulte Family Foundation's purchase of the Inn at St. John's golf course in Plymouth.
Pulte's lawsuit is against Jones as an individual, not in his capacity as a corporate officer of Atlanta-based PulteGroup, which moved its headquarters out of Bloomfield Hills in the mid-2010s.
PulteGroup is not a defendant in the lawsuit. However, the lawsuit claims that Jones used company time and possibly company equipment to carry out his harassment campaign, a violation of the company's ethics code.
The lawsuit accuses Jones of defamation and libel and tortious interference with business relationships. It seeks between $30,000 and $75,000 in damages, plus a court injunction to force him to erase offending tweets.
Additionally, Pulte told the Free Press that he wants PulteGroup to hire a truly independent and impartial law firm to investigate Jones' alleged conduct. He said the company did hire a law firm to investigate, but one it has existing relationships with and which is "totally compromised" and not fit for the job.
“My family has a great legacy, we have a great name," Pulte said.
“Nobody should be treated maliciously like this," he added. "I mean, I’m on Twitter all day long. People say terrible things about me, I can deal with that. But to have a sophisticated bot network that’s being run by a No. 2 at a Fortune 500 company is totally and completely inappropriate.”
Asked how he can be sure the offending Twitter accounts belonged to Jones, Pulte said he cannot yet reveal specifics but more details will emerge as the case proceeds.
"Obviously, if we are filing the suit, we are confident in what we’re putting forth," he said.
Jones did not respond Wednesday to a message for comment sent through PulteGroup.
In a statement, PulteGroup said that "having recently been made aware of certain social media activity by a company executive, we are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the facts and whether there has been a violation of our company’s standards and policies.”
Started in Detroit
Bill Pulte is the grandson of the late William J. Pulte, who started Pulte Homes in Detroit in the 1950s and grew the company to become one of the nation's largest homebuilders.
The younger Pulte, who also runs a private-equity firm called Pulte Capital Partners, was very close to his grandfather, and according to the lawsuit, was his only descendant to receive an inheritance.
William Pulte retired from the company and its board in 2010 and remained a top shareholder. He later was critical of the company's decision to leave metro Detroit for Atlanta. Pulte died at age 85 in 2018 at his home in Naples, Florida.
The lawsuit says that the elder Pulte, amid his dissatisfaction with PulteGroup's then-CEO Richard Dugas, in 2016 recruited his grandson to help turn around the company. Bill Pulte was appointed to the board of directors that year and the two Pultes pushed for Dugas' ouster.
Bill Pulte stayed on the board for four years. During that time, he opposed a proposal by current PulteGroup CEO Ryan Marshall to directly promote Jones to chief operating officer from Michigan division president. The board agreed with Pulte and rejected the proposed promotion for Jones.
This October, with Pulte off the board, the company announced that Jones, now a senior vice president, will become executive vice president and chief operating officer starting Jan. 1.
Alter egos alleged
The lawsuit claims that Jones has used several alter ego Twitter accounts under fake names, including the now-defunct @GoDetroitWin and @EverythingTaket. He sometimes used two accounts in tandem to give the illusion of a conversation between different people, the lawsuit says, and generally acts by chiming in to reply to some of Pulte's posts.
Other allegedly defamatory tweets cited in the lawsuit include:
“This Bill Pulte has nothing to do with Pulte Homes. He trades in his grandfather’s legacy as if he had something to do with it.”
“Pulte Family is kind of a mess. Money does that.”
“@pulte mentioned his father Mark Pulte and an investigation into the fire. Sounds like he may suspect his father.”
“You and the Pulte board spend BILLIONS on stock buy backs. You also did layoffs. Grandpa Pulte would have invested in land, homes and People.”
“@pulte Nah, you just took advantage when his faculties were diminished. You manipulated an elderly man and are trying to hijack his legacy. He didn’t ‘wait’ a generation. He got old and you were opportunistic.”
“@pulte, I was laid off when you were on the board. You claim you were in the weeds to fix it so you were culpable. You had a massive compensation as a board member and a private jet. You are a hypocrite!!!”
“Honest question… since you never worked for Pulte, why do you feel entitlement?"
The lawsuit says many of the tweets were untrue and intended to sully Pulte's reputation in the business and philanthropic communities. And other tweets, the lawsuit said, "even if true, are conveyed in such a manner as to give false impressions."
Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pulte grandson sues PulteGroup exec, claiming Twitter trolling
