Equity Dispute
A senior engineer at a fast-growing AI startup found himself targeted just as the company entered acquisition talks with a multi-billion-dollar public company.
Sensing an opportunity to line their pockets, MGMT launched a predatory buyback campaign — leveraging intimidation and paperwork maneuvers to claw back his vested (and unvested) equity for pennies on the dollar. At their side stood an army of corporate lawyers, eager for deployment.
I was retained to even
the playing field.
MGMT’s repurchase rights were valid only if (1) the client was terminated or (2) he missed deliverables. So they tried to have it both ways — attempting to terminate him while still assigning work; circulating unsigned agreements but insisting they governed; demanding a resignation and then sitting on an unsigned resignation letter — for months.
Too late. I intervened, dismantled their half-baked theories, and served up threats they couldn’t stomach. The appetizer was enough to sour their appetite. What came next would not go down easy.
The main course was pressure — and it forced MGMT to the table on our terms. Within two hours, MGMT offered $550,000 to settle. But we didn’t come for crumbs; we wanted the whole cake. So I cooked some more.
With 36 hours until closing and the Buyer growing hesitant, I staged a four-hour Friday-night blitz.
• Hour one: Section 220 Demand.
• Hour two: draft TRO papers.
• Hour three: a file-ready SDNY complaint.
• Hour four: a Standstill Agreement.
Outnumbered, I knew engaging too early would give MGMT time to mobilize lawyers. Instead, I waited until the eleventh hour — when only the deal team remained. Suddenly, their attorneys were scrambling to respond to filings I had spent the week fine-tuning. A weekend usually reserved for closing documents became a battlefield.
Faced with a choice — pursue a shaky equity grab and risk scrutiny, or secure a $10M acquisition — MGMT folded. They awarded my client 1M shares, exercisable at merger.
Days later, the merger closed. His stake converted from 200,000 to 1,000,000 shares — a seven-figure payout worth $1.14M.
As of Friday, September 12, 2025, I minted a new millionaire. Who’s next?
