Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge in 2012, the case was described as a "$2.5-million suit" and Bower said, "How can a convicted fraudster find a jury who will say that his reputation has been damaged by a book that says he's a fraudster?" A passing reference in the book to the British businessman, pornographer, and publisher Richard Desmond led to Desmond unsuccessfully suing Bower for libel in 2009. Desmond argued that the description in the book that he was "ground into the dust" when he had published an apology after Black had threatened to sue for libel had weakened his reputation. Notes References Conrad and
Tom Bower article published in America, by the magazine "The New Republic", on the basis that it had 136 British subscribers. Bower also believes that Maxwell tried to break into his house and also went through his phone records and bank statements. In 2000, Richard Branson sued Bower for libel over an article he had written for the London "Evening Standard" in 1999. Branson chose not to sue the paper, but its editor, Max Hastings, agreed the newspaper would fund Bower's defence. Branson lost the case, and later expressed regret at bringing the action. Bower continues to write articles critical of Branson's