Court case at end of four-year feud hears contested allegations of financial mismanagement and ‘clandestine relationships’ between practice principal and junior staff
Dame Zaha Hadid was never far from controversy in her lifetime, nor has she been since her death. In the four years since the celebrated Iraqi-born architect died suddenly in March 2016, a “toxic dispute” has been taking place between the executors of her estate, with claims and counterclaims filed over the interpretation of her wishes and the future of her architecture practice. The long-running feud has finally been settled in an explosive court hearing involving contested allegations of financial mismanagement, disregard for corporate governance and “clandestine relationships” between the current practice principal and junior members of staff.
In a remote hearing conducted via Skype, the court was told that, after years of negotiations, the four executors of Hadid’s will trust had finally reached an agreement over the distribution of her estate, which is now valued at around £100m – bar one detail. The agreement will see the bulk of Hadid’s assets go to the Zaha Hadid Foundation, a charitable body, with plans to establish a museum and award scholarships, focused on supporting the architectural education of Arab women in particular.