Axium International, a leading payroll services company, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy on Tuesday (1/8), a day after sending its employees home and telling them not to come back to its offices in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London. For the most part, Axium employees were informed of the company’s demise via e-mail.
The Chapter 7 petition, which was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California, read that Axium “lacks sufficient liquidity or other resources” to meet its financial obligations. However, there was no insight or explanation offered in the filing as to what caused Axium to reach such dire straits.
Speculation as to what factors may have caused the closure were running rampant at press time but none could be confirmed. Word is that Golden Tree Asset Management, a New York investment firm that is Axium’s largest creditor, seized $22 million from the payroll company’s bank accounts, leaving Axium unable to continue operating. Golden Tree had reportedly lent Axium some $140 million.
Numerous production houses were surprised by Axium going belly up, as was the payroll firm’s rank-and-file workforce. There have been reports of a number of feature producers who had significant amounts of money frozen in an Axium payroll account due to the firm’s bankruptcy declaration.
Much of the payroll business handled by Axium has or is being moved to such competitors as Entertainment Partners and Cast & Crew Entertainment Services.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More