Opinion ID: 2340356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Ownership of H20

Text: Next, we must consider the district court's decision on the merits, including whether substantial evidence supports its finding that Weddell has never acquired an ownership interest in the stock of H20. According to Weddell, Stewart promised him $2.5 million in compensation for his successful debt negotiation in 2001. Stewart denies that he made such a promise, which was neither memorialized on paper nor witnessed by a third person. A few years later, Stewart gave Weddell $2.5 million, which Weddell then used to purchase 10,000 shares of H20 stock. Both Stewart and Weddell now claim the shares. The district court held that Weddell had never acquired an interest in the stock of H20 and was merely acting as an agent on behalf of Stewart, in part because Stewart was the source of virtually all monies and assets transferred into H20 after Weddell purchased the shares. Weddell contends that substantial evidence does not support the district court's conclusion that he never obtained ownership interest in H20. The record demonstrates otherwise. Regardless of whether Weddell ever owned the shares, the record clearly establishes that in May 2004, Weddell assigned his purported H20 shares to another company, White Paper, LLC, which was owned by Stewart, and later validly transferred any and all interest that he had in those shares to Stewart in June 2007. NRS 104.8301 (governing delivery of shares to a third person on behalf of the purchaser). Accordingly, we conclude that Weddell's arguments concerning fraud, estoppel, and waiver are irrelevant or lack merit, see J.A. Jones Constr. v. Lehrer McGovern Bovis, 120 Nev. 277, 291, 89 P.3d 1009, 1018 (2004) (declaring that `[f]raud is never presumed; it must be clearly and satisfactorily proved' (alteration in original) (quoting Havas v. Alger, 85 Nev. 627, 631, 461 P.2d 857, 860 (1969))), and there exists substantial evidence supporting the district court's conclusion that Weddell does not enjoy any ownership interest in H20 stock.