Taylor Thomson, the 66-year-old middle child of Canada’s billionaire Thomson family, is
her former friend after a crypto investment, bought by the two friends and allegedly recommended by a psychic, went south.
Now an
, 47-year-old Californian Ashley Richardson is representing herself. She lost her personal wealth in the doomed crypto investment. Thomson reportedly lost US$80 million. It also cost them their friendship.
The two friends reportedly met back in 2009 at a Malibu house party.
Richardson grew up in an affluent part of Monterey County, Calif., attending an elite prep school and skiing by age two. She built a career designing social-media campaigns for companies like Ford Motor and McDonald’s. But Thomson’s wealth was of in a different ballpark. “We would go somewhere for a few days and she’d be buying houses like other people buy mugs,” Richardson told the
.
However, money didn’t interfere with their relationship, Richardson says. “The reason we could be friends is because there was no financial connection.”
She claims she could be defensive about the way people used Thomson. At an art fair in London, she says attendees descended on Thomson. “People know who she is and know she will drop millions. It was nauseating.”
The friendship collapsed in 2022 after the cryptocurrency they invested in crashed within a year.
Thomson has accused her former friend of making hundreds of thousands of risky trades behind her back, according to the Wall Street Journal. Richardson denies the allegation and blames the billionaire for destroying their friendship and leaving her struggling to make ends meet.
Richardson also claims
the heiress made a pass at her
during a 2019 trip to British Columbia. A Thomson spokesperson denied this, telling the WSJ: “This is all false.”
“After spending years living a lavish lifestyle on Ms. Thomson’s dime, Ms. Richardson has taken her bogus story to the media in an attempt to extract more money from Ms. Thomson — which we know because Ms. Richardson has threatened multiple times she will do just that,” a spokesperson for Thomson told
in a statement.
The crypto investment came about due to a newsletter subscription Richardson had that was put out by celebrity psychic Michelle Whitedove. Her recommendation to invest in Persistence crypto coin got Richardson’s attention, and she raised the possibility with Thomson, who allegedly sought advice from her own psychic, Robert Sabella, an astrologer she regularly consulted, according to the New York Post.
“Taylor trusts her own instincts and would use Robert as a sounding board,” Thomson’s spokesman told the WSJ, “but by no means would she make substantial life decisions based on his suggestions.”
Richardson put most of her savings into the coin while Thomson reportedly poured in more than US$40 million. Richardson
she reined in the heiress when Thomson suggested spending another US$60 million on the token after successful early gains.
Thomson also allegedly wrote an email to her brothers, who own the largest stake in the Thomson fortune, accusing them of restricting her ability to invest family wealth in the crypto market, the WSJ reports.
Thomson’s spokesman told the WSJ that an email was never sent.
The Thomson family is worth a reported $98.15 billion and Maclean’s named them Canada’s richest family in 2024. Woodbridge, the family’s holding company, owns about 70 per cent of the shares of Thomson Reuters as well as The Globe and Mail and a minority interest in the Montreal Canadiens.
Woodbridge and the Thomson brothers didn’t respond to the Wall Street Journal’s requests for comment.
Control of the Thomson family empire has passed down the male line. Taylor is the middle child and only girl. Her efforts to forge her own path led to occasional periods of estrangement, sources familiar with the family told the WSJ.
Thomson initially pursued a career in acting, training at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She performed with Shakespearean theatre companies in Massachusetts and Los Angeles and had roles in the U.S. TV show Matrix and Canadian drama Forever Knight. In 1999, she had a daughter.
During their trading spree, Richardson says she spent as much as 20 hours a day researching cryptocurrencies and executing trades for Thomson — at times stewarding US$140 million of her friend’s investment, according to the WSJ.
Then the crypto market crashed in 2022. Richardson lost everything and Thomson, feeling betrayed, hired lawyers to get her money back.
Thomson sued Richardson and Persistence in 2023, seeking at least US$25 million for their alleged role in roping her into the investment. Her lawyers accused them of lying about the potential returns, aiming to bring in a “whale” or wealthy individual whose investment in the crypto coin would show up publicly in the digital investment record, boost its reputation and entice other potential investors.
According to Thomson’s lawsuit, Persistence allegedly rewarded Richardson an undisclosed kickback or finder’s fee of $783,702 worth of the coin. Richardson countered she and Thomson agreed on a finder’s fee but that it would only be paid if Thomson’s investment was profitable after a year. Richardson now says she ultimately received nothing.
In July, Thomson and Persistence settled for an undisclosed amount.
Richardson has filed a countersuit for US$10 million, alleging Thomson has defamed her. She claims in her court filings that Thomson decided to invest on her own. She also claims she never made a trade without Thomson’s approval and always did her best to “minimize losses.”
“Because of you I have lost everything, and you decided to sue the person who had nothing left to lose,” Richardson wrote in one of her last messages to Thomson, reports the WSJ. “
more than anything.”
One of their final interactions via text involved Richardson calling Thomson a “rich motherf–king sociopathic b–h,” according to the WSJ. “Send your f–king goons to take my life. Please, you have destroyed me,” she added.
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