October 3, 2024
Sergey Petrossov, founder of JetSmarter, and former board members have settled a 2020 lawsuit per Bloomberg Law.
A 2020 lawsuit filed in Delaware by KZ Capital General Trading LLC against JetSmarter, Inc., its founder Sergey Petrossov, and former board members Thomas J. Ridge and Christophe Navarre has been settled.
News of the deal was first reported by Bloomberg Law earlier today.
Details of the settlement were confidential.
According to Bloomberg, KZ Capital claimed the board “duped” it into handing control of JetSmarter to Clearlake Capital Group LP.
The report notes, “A judge in 2022 threw out wider-ranging allegations that Petrossov scammed members, lied to the public, and steered the business into a wave of scandal.”
Vista Global acquired JetSmarter in April using its digital platform for the charter brokerage it acquired when it purchased XOJet in 2018 and rebranded it as XO.
According to court documents, KZ Capital’s initial $15 million investment in 2016 valued JetSmarter at $1.5 billion.
JetSmarter was founded in 2012 by Petrossov, who sought to democratize private jet flying.
Early members who paid less than $10,000 per year could book free seats on private jets.
However, members later sued JetSmarter.
They complained about unilateral changes in contract terms and alleged promises that they would not be subject to price increases.
All the lawsuits were dropped, dismissed, or part of a class action arbitration settlement in 2019.
Find the perfect solution for your private aviation needs
Save Time. Buy Confidently.
Receive an apples-to-apples comparison of programs that meet your needs from more than 500 jet card and fractional options covering 65 points of differentiation and over 40,000 data points.
