Robert Brockman, an entrepreneur and investor in the software industry who amassed a multibillion-dollar fortune before being prosecuted in a landmark tax-evasion case, has passed away. The case included Brockman. He was 81.
According to Kathy Keneally, his attorney, Brockman passed away late on Friday night. He had been diagnosed with dementia for quite some time and was receiving hospice care at home.
Since the year 2020, he had been defending himself against allegations of tax evasion, but his lawyers argued that dementia rendered him incompetent to go to trial. In May, a judge decided that Brockman could handle his own affairs.
His trial date was provisionally set for February 23, 2023, at an appearance before the judge a month later. During the session, a video showed Brockman lying in bed.
“The government spent time and resources indicting a man who had increasing dementia and was terminally ill,” Keneally said. “The man was in his latter stages of life.”
In his early years, Brockman had a reputation for being an unstoppable worker who also had a penchant for maintaining a healthy body, fly fishing in Colorado, and dove hunting in Argentina.
Forbes estimates that he had a net worth of 4.7 billion dollars. Brockman, a native of Florida who came from humble beginnings, was selling computing services to auto dealers on behalf of International Business Machines Corporation when, in 1970, he founded a company that helped revolutionize how the industry operates in North America and Europe. Brockman is a native of Florida.
Brockman, a self-taught programmer, developed a software system that assisted car dealers in managing virtually every aspect of their business operations.
He was granted more than a dozen patents and expanded his software company, Reynolds & Reynolds, into a 5,000-person operation valued at approximately $5 billion.
During the time that Brockman was growing his company into a powerhouse in its field, he was also defending himself in several lawsuits that accused him of engaging in rough and tumble business practices.
The salespeople claimed that they were not paid by his company, and the auto dealers claimed that he deceived them into signing expensive multi-year contracts.
The Federal Trade Commission conducted an investigation to determine whether or not he engaged in anti-competitive practices.
Brockman, a former Marine reservist who was known for surrounding himself with devoted lieutenants, had an intense desire for personal privacy that extended to his interactions with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Robert Tyson, an entrepreneur who won a lawsuit against Brockman for unpaid compensation for services rendered, said that Brockman only had one rule, and that rule was “Don’t do business with the government.” He was adamant that the federal government not investigate anything.
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In October of 2020, the United States of America filed charges against Brockman for money laundering and the largest case of tax evasion ever brought against an individual.
Burner Phones
By making the first investment in Robert F. Smith’s company, Vista Equity Partners, Brockman played an instrumental role in launching the private equity career of America’s wealthiest Black citizen, Robert F. Smith.
The majority of Brockman’s alleged earnings came from Vista investments. According to the allegations made by the prosecutors, Brockman hid $2 billion in income from the IRS by using a complex network of offshore companies, code names, and burner phones.
