Chris Kirchner, the former CEO of tech startup Slync — once valued at more than $240 million after he raised millions from investors like Goldman Sachs, only to spend the money on a private jet and luxury cars — was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday by the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas.
The sentencing, among the harshest for a tech founder accused of fraud in recent years — Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos was sentenced to 11 years last year — caps a dramatic rise and fall for the young founder, who raised more than $80 million for Slync with the goal to become a major supplier of software for the logistics industry. Kirchner, who was represented by a court-appointed defender, received the maximum penalty, and was ordered to pay $65 million in restitution, according to a sentencing document.
www.forbes.com.au/news/innovation/slync-ceo-chris-kirchner-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison/