Next 15, Mach 49's owner, says it discovered potential misconduct after assessing an earnout payment due to be paid to Mach49 after it acquired the business in 2000.
UK technology consultancy Next 15 said it has become aware of potential serious misconduct at Mach49, a US venture services provider that it acquired in 2020.
As a result of the findings, it has terminated the employment of three members of the senior management at Mach49 – Linda Yates, Russ Lampert and Paul Holland.
Next 15 said in a release that is reporting its findings to law enforcement agencies.
Mach49 is a well known venture builder and venture investing firm in Silicon Valley. It works with companies to create ventures. It also advises and selects investments on behalf of its clients.
Next 15 said it became aware of potential misconduct after assessing the final earnout payment it should make to Mach49 in connection with its acquisition of the company. Earnout payments are a form of deferred payment made to the sellers of a business which is contingent on the performance of the acquired company.
Two years after the acquisition, Mach49 entered a five-year contract with a global technology company which at the time was in stealth mode. Under the agreement, worth more than $400m, Mach49 was tasked with helping create and launch a series of tech ventures across the world.
Because of the large size of the of agreement, Next 15 chose to cap the earnout payment to Mach 49 at $300m. But in September 2024, it announced that Mach49’s customer had not renewed the contract beyond its initial three-year term. The contract ended in December 2024.
The agreement had been expected to contribute more than £80m ($110m) of revenue in fiscal year 2026. Its termination caused Next 15 to materially reduce its forecasts for the financial year to January 31 2026, causing its share price to fall sharply.
Since then, as it worked out what its final earnout payment to Mach 49 should be, it made the discovery of potential misconduct at Mach 49. Details of the potential misconduct have not been disclosed.
Requests for comment from Mach49 were not returned by press time.
