Milwaukee Bucks co-owner met a woman on LinkedIn, slept with her once, and spent two years fending off demands for $1.25 billion in hush money

Wesley Edens, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, has been at the center of a strange and alarming extortion case. It reportedly began with a LinkedIn message in 2022 and grew into a years-long blackmail scheme involving threats, compromising material, and a demand for $1.25 billion in hush money.

The story started when Changli “Sophia” Luo, 46, messaged Edens on LinkedIn. Luo had founded a Manhattan-based nonprofit called One World Initiative Advocacy, which focuses on cross-border dialogue and international collaboration. Edens, a recently divorced billionaire, was contacted by Luo, who may have initially reached out for professional reasons.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the relationship soon became personal. The two met in person, and by June 2023, they had sex at Luo’s Manhattan apartment. After that, Luo’s behavior changed. She began making threats, claiming she had compromising photos and videos of their encounter and using them to try to extort Edens.

The sextortion plot that followed was far more calculated and severe than a simple personal dispute

Prosecutors say Luo kept sending threatening messages to Edens and even contacted his family members. She told him she would go to his investors and destroy his reputation, calling him a “terrible person.” She also allegedly used a fake name to get into the doctor’s office where Edens’ then-girlfriend, now-wife, worked, and told her that she had slept with Edens.

In one message, Luo wrote, “I am sure your family and business partners will learn about you and your misdeeds from these interviews and will provide exposure that will taint your record forever”. This case is not the only time a major U.S. city has made headlines recently – a Wisconsin city’s anti-data center vote also drew national attention.

Edens tried to resolve the situation through mediation and offered Luo more than $6 million to stay quiet. She turned it down and raised her demands, claiming that Edens had given her a cancer-causing strain of HPV. She then hired a lawyer, who allegedly told Edens that she would release the compromising material and would “destroy” him if he did not take “responsibility.” Luo’s final demand was $1.25 billion in hush money.

Luo’s defense argued in court that she was being “unfairly prosecuted for aggressive posturing made by a former lawyer during settlement talks over the sexual encounter.” Prosecutors, however, maintained that her threats were serious and that she was genuinely attempting to extort Edens for a massive sum of money. 

The NBA world has seen its share of controversy lately, including Charles Barkley calling out Stephen A. Smith over comments about LeBron James.The case took a major turn in May 2025, when FBI agents searched Luo’s apartment and found two phones. One of them contained pornographic images and videos featuring Edens’ head digitally placed on another man’s body. Luo was arrested in June 2025 at JFK Airport while trying to board a flight to China.