A former director at Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Mithril Capital claims in a lawsuit he was driven out of his job by “dysfunctional and toxic” management.
The complaint by James ‘Jim’ O’Neill, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, is the latest fallout over alleged mismanagement at the firm that spilled into public view about four years ago when its former general counsel filed a lawsuit.
O’Neill, a Silicon Valley investor close to Thiel and a former senior US Health Department official, had the billionaire’s backing in late 2016 as a contender to head the Food and Drug Administration for the incoming Trump administration, a job he didn’t get.
He blames his 2019 termination at Mithril on “erratic behavior” by managing director Ajay Royan, who co-founded Mithril in 2012 after a previous stint at Thiel’s defunct hedge fund Clarium Capital, where O’Neill also worked. Multiple former employees accused Royan four years ago of mismanaging Mithril and driving out top talent. The FBI investigated at the time based on an ex-employee’s complaint.
Mithril and Royan didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
O’Neill alleges Royan orchestrated his termination, “purportedly for cause” in March 2019, to seize O’Neill’s vested stake in the firm and to eliminate him as “a potential rival who Royan believed threatened Thiel’s perception” of him.
Among other allegations, O’Neill says that a week before he was fired, Royan wanted to send a “former Navy SEAL” to search his house and confiscate his personal devices.
When O’Neill refused, “Royan nevertheless sent an associate to plaintiff’s home, where the associate waited outside for approximately four hours, while plaintiff waited inside, terrified,” according to the complaint.
O’Neill alleges breach of contract and unfair business practices and seeks back pay and unspecified monetary damages, including for “emotional distress, humiliation,” and other “mental anguish.”
Austin, Texas-based Mithril, which has $1.4 billion assets under management, last raised a fund in 2017 and has less than $100 million left to deploy, according to PitchBook.
Read More: What Happened at Mithril When Peter Thiel Wasn’t Around
Crystal McKellar, who had been Mithril’s top lawyer, alleged in a 2019 suit she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for alerting authorities to alleged financial fraud at the firm. McKellar accused Royan of inflating portfolio company valuations to try and swipe money from the firm’s investors.
A month before McKellar filed her complaint, Mithril had sued her, claiming the former general counsel carried out a “whisper campaign” to tarnish its reputation while setting up a rival venture firm. Court filings show both cases were withdrawn in 2020, but don’t reveal any details of a settlement.
The case is O’Neill v. Mithril Capital Management LLC, CGC-23-606566, California Superior Court, San Francisco County (San Francisco).
Author: Peter Blumberg, Malathi Nayak and Lizette Chapman