In the latest development in the MassRoots saga, three members of the board of directors have resigned, and former CEO Isaac Dietrich has been reinstated under the terms of a deal struck between the four of them.
“I am back at MassRoots,” an elated Dietrich told Marijuana Business Daily on Wednesday afternoon.
Dietrich had previously threatened to move forward with a proxy vote to oust the board of directors, who had fired him in October and installed Scott Kveton as CEO.
“The three outgoing board members and I reached a deal, and they resigned from the board,” said Dietrich, who also is a board member.
“My slate of directors was appointed, Scott Kveton resigned today, and I was reappointed CEO. So it achieved everything the proxy aimed to achieve, but it was done much more rapidly and at a much lower cost.”
Ean Seeb, one of the three departed board members, confirmed in an interview with MJBizDaily that he, Vincent “Tripp” Keber and Terry Fitch resigned from the board Wednesday.
“Quite frankly, Isaac had a phenomenal plan and a way to move forward, and it seemed to be the best path in the evolution of MassRoots to make the company a success,” said Seeb, a co-founder of Denver Relief Consulting.
Keber is CEO and co-founder of Dixie Brands; Fitch is CEO and founder of Drink Teck.
The resignations and Dietrich’s return as CEO were first reported by Leafly.
The new MassRoots board members – who were handpicked by Dietrich – are:
- Charles Blum, a former QS Energy CEO, a Texas-based energy technology company
- Nathan Shelton, also a former QS Energy executive
- Cecil Kyte, CEO of Rightscorp, a Los Angeles-based copyright-enforcement company
QS Energy and Rightscorp are publicly traded on the over-the-counter market.
Kveton confirmed Wednesday that he had voluntarily resigned as CEO, though he offered no reasons for his decision.
“That’s accurate. I did resign,” Kveton told MJBizDaily before declining further comment on the situation.
Isaac Dietrich
In an interview with Marijuana Business Daily, Dietrich said that an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission will detail the agreement between him and the board and that the filing will be available Thursday.
No such 8-K was available on the SEC’s website Wednesday evening. The latest filing by MassRoots was dated Nov. 22.
According to a draft of an 8-K that Dietrich shared with MJBizDaily, the three former board members “received compensation for prior services and warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock.”
The ex-board members also “entered into a Mutual release and Non-Disparagement Agreement,” according to the draft.
The draft stated that Dietrich will receive an annual base salary of $120,000, plus benefits.
Leafly, however, reported that Dietrich’s salary will be $145,000.
The 8-K draft also stated that Kveton received severance and that “certain shares of common stock” issued to him were “accelerated and vest immediately upon his resignation.”
Kveton’s resignation and the reinstallment of Dietrich as CEO is a dramatic turn of events.
MassRoots filed suit against Dietrich last month, alleging that he stole more than $250,000 from the company and had been using illegal drugs at the firm’s Denver office.
Dietrich told MJBizDaily on Wednesday that the suit will be withdrawn now that he’s back in charge of the company. He also said there’s no merit to rumors of a possible criminal investigation into the malfeasance alleged in the lawsuit.
“I have not been contacted by any authorities. There is no investigation,” Dietrich said. “That was completely made up to try to take control of the company away from myself and the shareholders.”
This story is developing and will be updated.
https://mjbizdaily.com/massroots-board-resigns-dietrich-reinstated-ceo/
