Cerebral Inc. has taken legal action to collect on a $50 million loan it made to Co-Founder and former CEO Kyle Robertson.
The behavioral health tech company asked a state judge in New York to order Robertson to pay $25.4 million of a $49.8 million promissory note. Cerebral issued Robertson the loan in January to help him exercise an option to buy over 1 million shares in Cerebral stock, public legal documents state.
The terms of the loan agreement state Robertson is to repay the loan within six months of his termination should that occur. It did on May 18.
The documents state that Robertson was terminated as CEO by the Cerebral board of directors. At that time, the company was vague about the reasons for his departure. Leading up to that point, the company experienced a deluge of scrutiny including federal investigations.
“As a part of Kyle’s employment he requested and received a loan from Cerebral,” a spokesperson for Cerebral said in an email. “Because the loan is past due and Kyle has not paid it back, Cerebral has an obligation to enforce its contractual rights.”
Robertson has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Robertson is personally liable for 51% of the principle of the loan, documents state. He partly secured the loan with the shares purchased with the loan. The agreement also allows the company to repurchase the shares and settle the loan before its due date. Following the loans and exercising the loan, Robertson held 5.28 million shares in Cerebral.
Robertson has allegedly declined to repay the loan. During a mediation with Cerebral, Robertson “repeatedly asserted that he refused to repay the loan,” according to an affidavit signed by Cerebral’s current CEO David Mou.
Cerebral’s lawsuit was filed about a week after Robertson sent the company a books–and-records inspection notice, a preliminary step potentially indicating a lawsuit. In that notice, he claimed that he was pushed out because of his sexual orientation and that he was pressured to have the company start prescribing controlled substances.
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