NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A federal judge sitting on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed Uzac v. Pragad, Case No. 1:25-cv-03573, the latest lawsuit seeking to undo the transaction by which Newsweek was transferred to Dev Pragad in 2018.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon found that the case could not proceed without additional alleged joint venture members whose interests were directly implicated by the claims. The court found those absent parties were necessary and indispensable, that joining them would destroy diversity jurisdiction, and that the federal action therefore had to be dismissed.
This federal case was brought against the backdrop of prior New York rulings that already upheld the written agreement governing the Newsweek transaction. In 2022, a judge on the New York Supreme Court dismissed IBT Media’s suit seeking to force Newsweek’s return, holding that the written Membership Interest Purchase Agreement controlled and foreclosed contrary claims. In 2023, the Appellate Division affirmed and expressly declared the MIPA enforceable. Those rulings already settled the ownership issue under the governing written deal. Newsweek has consistently stated that relitigating the court's established decisions with new legal theories won't change the outcome regarding Newsweek's ownership. In December 2025, a Westchester court dismissed yet another case brought against Pragad and other members of Newsweek leadership by IBT Media.
"This ruling speaks for itself," said Dev Pragad. "I have always been focused on building Newsweek into the world-class media organization it deserves to be. These attempts to relitigate a transaction that courts have now repeatedly upheld will not distract us from that mission." Newsweek believes all of the lawsuits brought by IBT Media, Olivet University, and their affiliates are meritless and will continue to defend against them.
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