Hedge fund billionaire drops suit vs. IRS over tax leak as agency apologizes

The IRS on Tuesday said it “sincerely apologizes” to billionaire investor Ken Griffin and thousands of other wealthy people whose private tax information was leaked to the news media by a former contractor.

The unusual statement came as part of a negotiated settlement with Griffin who, in exchange, agreed to drop a long-running lawsuit against the agency.

In its statement, the IRS also said it was improving its privacy protocols to address “potential weaknesses” following the leak by Charles Littlejohn, which also snared former President Donald Trump.

“The IRS takes its responsibilities seriously and acknowledges that it failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn’s criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential data,” the agency said.

“Accordingly, the IRS assures Mr. Griffin and the other victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s actions that it has made substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information.”

In a statement, Griffin said: “I am grateful to my team for securing an outcome that will better protect American taxpayers and that will ultimately benefit all Americans.”

Griffin, founder of the hedge fund Citadel, did not receive any money as part of the settlement. He dropped his previous demand for $1,000-per-unauthorized disclosure in damages that’s allowed under the law.

The settlement ends an 18-month court fight in which Griffin argued the agency was ultimately responsible for the disclosures.

Littlejohn, who was convicted of giving Trump’s and other wealthy people’s private tax information to ProPublica and the New York Times, has said he hoped to spark a public debate over income inequality.

More than 150 people, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Michael Bloomberg, had their private tax information published in the news media as a result of the leak.

In January, Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison . He is appealing the sentence .

In court, the government had countered Griffin's suit by arguing it was not responsible, in part because Littlejohn had said he acted alone.