Originally published on 12 January 2023. Kept as written; the law it describes may have moved since.
The Run-Down: 30-year-old founder of startup Frank is being sued by JPMorgan for allegedly creating a list of fake users to inflate success and get buy-in
- JPMorgan acquired Frank for $175 million under false pretenses that its scale and success were much larger than it actually was
- Charlie Javice founded Frank as a way to make the student loan application process easier through its online software
- JPMorgan states Frank claims there were 4 million users on the site - when in reality there were less than 300,000
Why You Should Care:
Who said we needed another Sam Bankman-Fried in the world? Seriously though - what’s going on? From the collapse of FTX to this lawsuit, there are some sketchy (to say the least) business practices going down.
And while it may seem far removed, it’s actually not. Fraudulent business practices are rampant within companies of any size, in any industry, offering any number of services.
Sometimes this behavior comes from a malicious, deep-rooted plan to make the most bang for the least buck. But oftentimes, it’s simple mistakes and mishaps that lead to it. Setting clear standards and goals — even when they’re hard to abide by — is the only way to combat running into another Charlie Javice.