Richard Baker has been locked out of his email at Saks Global since mid-January.
That is the argument laid out in court documents last week against a subpoena request from a committee of unsecured creditors as part of the luxury retailer’s bankruptcy. The committee says a subpoena is necessary because the former Saks Global executive chairman has repeatedly rebuffed requests for key information.
Saks Global filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 on Jan. 13 and 14, and that’s when Baker “ceased to be an employee, officer or director,” per court filings; he was Saks Global executive chairman for years and had a brief stint in the new year as CEO.
In 2024 the real estate mogul piloted the ill-fated $2.7 billion merger of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus Group, funded in part with investments from various corners including Amazon, Salesforce, Authentic Brands Group, G-III Apparel Group and Simon Property Group. After the bankruptcy filing Amazon complained to the court that its investment was worthless.
The creditors need to speak to someone at Saks Global to find the documents they seek, however, according to Baker’s attorneys.
“Since Mr. Baker’s separation with the Company on the night of the Petition Date, he has had no access to his company-affiliated email or company-issued hardware,” they said, per court filings.
Baker wants to “quash the Subpoena in its entirety or, at most, limit the burden to what is necessary,” they said.
These creditors include many vendors with back invoices that may never be paid in full, or at all. The information they want includes details about the merger; any “corporations, companies, limited liability companies, partnerships, or other corporate entities” created by Baker or affiliated with him; and art pieces, jewelry or items that he or his affiliates “lent, sold, or leased” to Saks Global, among other issues.
“The Subpoena is unduly burdensome as it seeks discovery readily available from the estate fiduciaries — the Debtors and the Special Committee — while burdening an individual with duplicative requests,” Baker’s lawyers wrote. “Mr. Baker does not possess unique, material information that is unavailable from the Debtors or the Special Committee.”
