Bill Gross Settles Pimco Lawsuit For About $81 MillionBill Gross Settles Pimco Lawsuit For About $81 Million

NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - Star bond fund manager BillGross has reached a roughly $81 million settlement of hislawsuit accusing his former employer Pacific InvestmentManagement Co of forcing him to resign so that his bonus couldbe divided among others.

Terms of the accord were not disclosed by Gross or Pimco,but were confirmed by two people familiar with the matter whoasked not to be named because of confidentiality concerns. Proceeds are going to charity, Gross and Pimco said in a jointstatement.

The settlement quietly ends what had been an acrimoniousbattle played out through the press, and then in Gross' $200million lawsuit filed in October 2015 against Pimco, a unit ofGerman insurer Allianz SE.

Gross had departed Pimco, his home for more than fourdecades, in September 2014, following negative news reportsabout his leadership and weak returns at its flagship PimcoTotal Return fund, which he managed.

Pimco had countered that Gross' "egregious misconduct" andincreasingly erratic behavior would have given it "good cause"to terminate his employment had he not resigned.

Gross now runs the Janus Global Unconstrained Bondfund for Janus Capital Group Inc.

He had sued Pimco in a California state court. A requestthat the lawsuit be dismissed was filed on Monday. (Reporting by Jennifer Ablan, Sam Forgione and JonathanStempel; Editing by Phil Berlowtiz)