Chris Kirchner – Slync
He raised millions from sophisticated investors including Goldman Sachs. Then he spent wildly on himself.
Christopher Kirchner founded Southlake, Texas-based Slync in 2017 as a Salesforce-like platform for supply chain logistics. The software startup grew quickly to about 100 employees, and it scored a $240 million valuation before the entrepreneur’s worst impulses drove it just as quickly into extinction.
Kirchner had raised nearly $71 million from venture capital firms, then he looted the company to pursue his wildest sports fantasies.
Among his many extravagances, he spent $16 million on a 2010 Gulfstream G550 jet to fly to celebrity golf tournaments that his company sponsored. He also came close to buying an English soccer team, but he couldn’t produce the funds needed to close the deal as his looted empire collapsed.
He bought a luxury suite at AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play. He bought exotic vehicles, including a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari Superfast 812, and a Mercedes Benz G-Class. He adorned himself with jewelry including a $500,000 Richard Mille watch, several Rolexes and a Cartier necklace. He also acquired pricey artwork and collected expensive bottles of wine.
His spending spree didn’t stop, even as Slync failed to meet payroll. He allegedly fired two employees who raised concerns about his management, including one who reported that he was exaggerating Slync’s financial performance.
Kirchner was sentenced to 20 years in prison in July 2024 and ordered to pay $65 million in restitution.
“Even as his company was circling the drain, Chris Kirchner was spending millions of his investors’ money on himself,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “Apparently, projecting personal prosperity was more important to him than making payroll.”
It’s astonishing how a man in his mid-30s could con so many sophisticated investors. Venture capital firms that poured money into Slync included Goldman Sachs Growth, ACME Ventures, 235 Capital Partners and Correlation Ventures.
Where was their oversight?
“In business I believe in transparency, trust, humility and respecting authority,” Kirchner told a British business publication in May 2022 before his myriad lies were exposed. “Those are qualities I have grown up with.”