Kahn

“This is an act of pure cowardice for short-term gain that corrupts every journalistic value imaginable,” said USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Gabriel Kahn.

B. Riley and Kahn — a longstanding client and friend of Riley’s — teamed up in 2023 to take FRG private in a $2.8-billion deal.

Soon after dusk, a neighbor pounded on Betsy Kahn’s door on Alpine Villa Drive, flames visible on the mountain behind him.

“Until it is overturned or repealed, that is the law of the land, period, end of discussion,” Mr. Kahn said.

B. Riley founder and co-ceo Bryant Riley has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing, but his firm’s dealings with Kahn are the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.