Los Angeles, Calif., Feb. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —
Driven by greed and ego, the son of the late renowned bandleader, Lawrence Welk, was illegally ousted as CEO and chairman of The Welk Group, an enormously profitable organization he ran for 42 years, by his own son and other family members as they seek to enrich themselves and use profits for personal gain, according to a lawsuit filed last month.
The complaint filed on Jan. 20 by Lawrence Welk Jr. in Los Angeles County Superior Court against his son, Kevin Welk, The Welk Group, Inc., his nephew Jonathan Fredricks, and Stephen Baron, seeks to dissolve the storied company responsible for numerous Grammy Awards, including music legend Dolly Parton’s 1999 album “The Grass is Blue,” which won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album through the company’s former music label, Sugar Hill Records.
“Like a scene from Macbeth, after Plaintiff built his son’s and nephew’s careers, they repaid him by stabbing him in the back, surreptitiously ousting him from the company he built, stealing his money, and manipulating the board of directors to exert undue power and control over Plaintiff, a now-85-year-old man,” according to the lawsuit.
Lawrence Welk, Jr. still owns 28.551% of the company’s stock even after being ousted. The unbelievable move came in November 2022, when Welk’s son, Kevin, and his nephew John Fredricks, called a special board meeting to change company rules that no one above the age of 74 should serve as CEO, the complaint states. Welk was 82 at the time.
The sole purpose of the amendment, the complaint continues, was to remove Welk, while during the same meeting the board voted to eliminate the CEO position altogether, without a severance package. In turn, Welk lost his monthly salary of $35,303, expense account and bonus, along with his health benefits. The company’s board then conveniently voted to install Fredricks as the company’s new “President,” the complaint reads.
Lawrence Welk, Jr., was substantially responsible for building the renowned company, The Welk Group, Inc., according to the complaint. After building Heartland Music, he joined his father, launching the enormously profitable Welk Resorts. He acquired record labels, including Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records, signed numerous well-established artists, including John Fogerty and Linda Ronstadt, and oversaw the release of multiple hit records, including country music legend Dolly Parton’s 1999 album “The Grass is Blue.” After spearheading the sale of Welk Music Group in 2015 for tens of millions of dollars to Concord Music, Welk orchestrated the sale of Welk Resorts in a blockbuster deal for nearly $430 million in 2021 to Marriott.
He was an integral part of the company’s success only to be unceremoniously pushed aside by his own family who have been “stealing” funds to line their own pockets and pay for luxurious lifestyles with Kevin Welk once spending $231,782.07 of the group’s money on an Aston Martin for his own personal use, the lawsuit alleges.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges, ”Defendants enacted their duplicitous scheme aimed at hiding their fraudulent and criminal conduct” and “conspired, maliciously eliminating Plaintiff’s salary, bonus, and expense account, cutting off his health benefits.” The lawsuit further claims the Defendants “colluded to form a cartel, continually voting over Plaintiff’s objections and against his interests” and “their aim was to hide their fraudulent and criminal conduct, shamelessly ousting the man who built their careers.”
Two other related lawsuits by Lawrence Welk, Jr. are pending – a financial elder abuse claim and a shareholders derivatives case – with trials set for Aug. 17 and Oct. 19, respectively.
Welk Jr. seeks to liquidate the acclaimed company, and is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
“The defendants in this case have shamelessly and maliciously abused their power, ousting our client, Lawrence Welk, Jr., after he substantially built the illustrious company, The Welk Group, Inc. Our client grew the company alongside his father, renowned bandleader, Lawrence Welk, garnering multiple Grammy Awards with the family’s music business, and otherwise built a dynamic real estate and resort brand only for his son and nephew to essentially turn on him after he established their careers,” said plaintiff’s attorney Jordan Matthews of Holtz Matthews LLP. “We will not tolerate their reckless and malicious abuse of our client and intend to hold them fully accountable for their reprehensible actions, attempting to tarnish the legacy of an 85-year-old man, and a giant in the industry.”
