Christopher Kirchner, former CEO of Slync.io, worked to raise the company's profile with sports sponsorships, including the title sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament.Slync.
“We could not afford to grow the company and pay those legal fees at the same time,” he told the publication. “It put the company in a position where we couldn’t raise capital from new investors and selling the company wasn’t an option due to liability concerns from potential suitors.”“The company blamed me and interestingly said that legal expenses related to me caused this situation,” he wrote.
on suspicion of diverting company funds for personal use. The SEC accused him of stealing $28 million to “fund his lavish lifestyle.” He faces 20 years in prison.Kirchner co-founded Slync in 2017. To raise its profile, the company secured sports sponsorships with its logo appearing on the Dallas Stars’ practice jerseys and Zamboni, and became title sponsor of the European Tour golf tournament’s Dubai Desert Classic.
But Slync, once valued at $240 million, was struggling to pay its employees, missing payroll at least six times, according to court documents.“As far as ‘funneling money into my own account’ — that is completely false,” Kirchner said in his email. “At that time, I was actually personally covering company expenses and payroll. The interesting fact is that everyone in the company at that point was paid in full except me. ... I was the largest fully diluted shareholder at the time of my departure.