Fortress Co-Founder Wesley Edens Named as Target of $1 Billion Extortion Scheme

Wesley Edens — billionaire co-founder of Fortress Investment Group, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, and the financier behind Florida's private passenger railway and Aston Villa FC — has been publicly identified as the victim at the center of a federal extortion case in Manhattan. Edens, 64, connected with Changli 'Sophia' Luo via LinkedIn in 2022. The two met in person and, in June 2023, had sex at her apartment. What followed, prosecutors allege, was an escalating extortion campaign of extraordinary scale.

After Edens failed to respond to a love letter Luo sent him post-encounter, her communications shifted dramatically. By November 2023 she had used a fake name to enter the medical office where Edens's then-girlfriend (now wife) worked, telling her about the sexual encounter and calling Edens a 'terrible person.' She also contacted his ex-wife. Months later, Luo alleged the sex had occurred while she was mentally incapacitated, claimed her apartment's hidden cameras had captured the encounter, and threatened to go public unless Edens apologized and paid up.

Faced with potential harassment of his family and public embarrassment, Edens agreed to a Zoom mediation overseen by a former judge, with his side represented by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. According to court filings from Luo's defense, he agreed to settle for $6.5 million, including $1 million upfront. The deal fell apart when Luo discovered she had HPV-16, blamed Edens, and — through a newly hired attorney named Tyrone Blackburn — renegotiated her demands upward to as much as $1.215 billion. Threats included releasing compromising photos and videos, contacting investors, and publicly destroying his reputation.

FBI agents searching Luo's Manhattan apartment last May found two phones hidden in a laundry basket and in a box of sanitary pads. One device contained fabricated pornographic videos with Edens's face digitally placed on another man's body. Luo, 46, was arrested at JFK airport in June 2025 as she attempted to board a flight to China. She faces four federal charges including blackmail and destruction of records, has pleaded not guilty, and is being held on $500,000 bond under home detention pending trial. Edens, who initiated contact with law enforcement himself, has confirmed he will testify at trial.