When the fourth-richest man in the world owns a chunk of an airline, with a vested interest to keep it going to service resorts on his private island, what could go wrong? Plenty.

The abrupt shutdown of Island Air in 2017 was shocking, throwing 400 employees out of work without warning or pay, and leaving millions of dollars in unpaid debt. On Wednesday, tech billionaire Larry Ellison, the defunct airlines’ part-owner, took the stand in federal court, one of the defendants in a civil lawsuit that seeks more than $30 million in back pay, unpaid debt and penalties. Ellison, who owns most of Lanai, has a net worth of $137 billion — give or take.