Ryan Breslow led his unicorn Bolt to success, but lawsuits and financial disputes resulted in a brutal valuation loss that wiped out much of his fortune
Ryan Breslow was dancing barefoot when his investors sued him in July last year. That’s because an aggrieved shareholder was accusing Breslow, the once- billionaire founder of payments unicorn Bolt , of draining millions of dollars from the company by defaulting on a personal loan secured by his money.
According to the lawsuit, instead of liquidating his shares to cover the debt, Breslow allowed $30 million to be withdrawn from Bolt’s bank account.
Over the past two years, Breslow has repeatedly tried to use his Bolt stake to obtain massive loans and attempted to add seven-figure travel bills to the company after stepping down as CEO, according to internal documents, court records and interviews with more than one dozens of friends, consultants and colleagues.
A Prism spokesperson told Forbes that the company was not aware of “internal board dynamics” at Bolt and declined to comment on the matter. Breslow also declined to comment on the Prism loan and a detailed list of questions sent by Forbes, saying they contained “many inaccuracies.”
However, his October 2023 dismissal petition filed by Activant confirmed the existence and terms of the $30 million loan, as well as the lack of payment at the time.
For years, Breslow personified Silicon Valley success with an archetypal story: a public school kid who dropped out of Stanford University to found Bolt, a one-click payments company that became a venture capital darling and raised US $1 billion in funding, earning him a spot on Forbes’ list of the world’s youngest billionaires and a magazine cover.
When Breslow took out the $30 million loan in November 2021 with unusual terms — if he failed, Bolt would cover its obligations and might get back some of his shares as payment — he was on a roll. By early 2022, Wall Street giants like BlackRock and HIG Growth had lined up to support a $355 million Series E funding round, valuing Bolt at $11 billion and Breslow’s personal stake at more than $10 billion. $2 billion.
But instead of catapulting Bolt to new heights, the 2022 deal marked the beginning of a turbulent 18 months for Breslow, marked by bitter legal disputes and a clash with one of Bolt’s earliest backers, the venture capital fund from Connecticut.
Florida court records seen by Forbes show that a month earlier, he changed his middle name to “King.”
Between March and April 2023, Breslow appointed three new directors – all friends of his. They included Grammy-winning producer Larrance Dopson, journalist Esther Wojcicki (mother of Susan Wojcicki and “Godmother of Silicon Valley”), and The Mighty Ducks child actor and cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce. According to the lawsuit, Breslow said they offered “fresh perspectives and deep networks for the business.”
Breslow called Activant’s litigation «nothing more than resentment» over his «unfettered right» to remove board members, stating in his dismissal petition that «he did not believe these directors were the best people to help support his vision for the continued growth and success of Bolt.”
Now, less than a year later, Breslow has replaced the new board with an even younger group of friends that include co-founder of mobile gaming unicorn Playco Michael Carter, former General Catalyst investor Rohan Ram and British property developer -American Joel Schreiber, who was recently involved in a $100 million legal battle with Goldman Sachs and Starwood.
Bolt’s investments
Meanwhile, the value of Bolt — which makes up the vast majority of Breslow’s wealth — has plummeted. The company began buying back shares from investors and employees in January this year at a 97% discount, suggesting a valuation of around $300 million, three sources told Forbes. The offering, which has since ended, also required participants to release Bolt and its affiliates from a wide range of claims.
Forbes also found that around the time of the buyback offer, Breslow’s $30 million loan debt and several million dollars in expenses were resolved by canceling a number of his Bolt shares, according to two sources. with knowledge of the subject. These sources added that Breslow’s shares were valued at a higher price than those of investors and employees.
At the time of the Series E round, Forbes reported that Breslow owned 22% of Bolt. With the valuation suggested by the buyback offer, this stake would be worth approximately US$60 million. It’s unclear how much of Breslow’s stake was canceled to pay the loan and outstanding expenses.
Change of course
Bolt’s 2022 Series E round was a turning point in Breslow’s life and career. The deal was supposed to set the stage for an early IPO. And for Breslow, a newly minted billionaire, it was a landmark achievement.
At this time, Breslow launched a campaign to aggressively expand his empire. Business incorporation documents, real estate records and internal company documents show that by February 2022, he had co-founded four companies while remaining CEO of Bolt. There was Movement DAO, a community blockchain project; Love Health, an online wellness marketplace; The Movement, a dance non-profit organization; and lending platform Prism.
He also self-published two instructional guides, “Fundraising” and “Recruiting,” and began looking for investors for what would become his venture capital fund, Family. In February, Breslow purchased a second bungalow in Miami, where he moved during the pandemic, and appeared to embrace the symbols of a billionaire lifestyle.
Three sources close to Breslow told Forbes that he employed an extensive private security team. “It was absurd, a level of security worthy of Bill Gates,” said one of them. The investor recalled Breslow saying his billionaire status and Forbes cover made him a target. “He definitely believed his own propaganda.”
A friend and former classmate of Breslow
Ten days after Bolt announced its Series E in January 2022, Breslow tweeted a series of insults at investors Sequoia Capital and Y Combinator, whom he called “Silicon Valley Mafia Bosses” and accused of colluding with Bolt’s competitor. Stripe payments.
Representatives from both companies rejected the accusations on Twitter. Six days later, Breslow abruptly resigned as Bolt’s CEO to become its executive chairman, telling CNBC that the decision was his own and came while meditating.
The move shocked Bolt investors and board members, who had expected its founder to lead the company to an exit via a stock market listing, two sources told Forbes. And that significantly changed his relationship with Bolt.
In an internal company document addressed to Breslow and seen by Forbes, new CEO Maju Kuruvilla later reminded him that, as president, his employment status was as an independent contractor and that he was not «authorized to speak on behalf of the company , including to current or prospective investors, current or potential customers, or media.”
Then, in May 2022, a New York Times report claimed that Breslow had inflated Bolt’s fundraising and $11 billion valuation with inflated metrics, and shortly afterward the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating statements he had made around Série E; in the end, it decided not to take enforcement action.
Still, the incident and Breslow’s general trajectory over the past two years have disappointed some investors and colleagues who had previously defended him. “He became the clown of the Valley,” said one.
We will not return
When Breslow’s bills began to come due, he struggled to manage them. In November 2022, with just three months until the $30 million was due, Breslow asked his previous counsel for an extension, Activant alleged in its lawsuit. In the same month, the company laid off 29% of its workforce in a second round of layoffs for the year, citing the need to “secure our financial position, extend our autonomy and achieve profitability with the money we have already raised.”
The cuts were particularly painful for some Bolt employees who had taken advantage of a plan Breslow had devised, allowing them to borrow from Bolt to buy invested shares. Then, suddenly, the laid-off employees had just 90 days to pay their debts. A Bolt spokesperson said at the time that only a “single-digit number” of laid-off employees were affected.
Two months after the layoffs, Breslow informed the board that he would be defaulting on his own loan, and in February 2023, millions were withdrawn from Bolt’s account.
Now, Breslow is facing a reckoning over his legacy at Bolt. His reputation as an entrepreneur and visionary was also affected. One Bolt investor called Breslow’s Fundraising manifesto “dangerous for young entrepreneurs.” A founder and friend of Breslow told Forbes that he had warned “so many people not to follow his fundraising method,” believing he valued ego and storytelling above presenting a real product.
Even Breslow’s gritty origin story, which once headlined Bolt’s website, has been quietly removed. Meanwhile, Activant is pressuring Bolt to open its books for potential evidence of “waste” and “self-dealing.”
