{{Short description|American entrepreneur}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Chris Kirchner | honorific_suffix = | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pronunciation = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1987|08}} | birth_place = San Francisco, California | baptised = <!-- will not display if birth_date is entered --> | disappeared_date = <!-- {{Disappeared date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (disappeared date then birth date) --> | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1967|8|31|1908|2|28}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> | death_place = | death_cause = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability --> | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | burial_place = <!-- may be used instead of resting_place and resting_place_coordinates (displays "Burial place" as label) --> | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | monuments = | nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | other_names = | siglum = | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | education = | alma_mater = University of Kentucky | occupation = Entrepreneur | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | agent = <!-- discouraged in most cases, specifically when promotional, and requiring a reliable source --> | known_for = Co-founder, Slync.io | notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works"; or by |label_name=, which produces label "Label(s)" --> | style = | height = <!-- "X cm", "X m" or "X ft Y in" plus optional reference (conversions are automatic) --> | television = | title = <!-- formal/awarded/job title. The parameter |office=may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) --> | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | otherparty = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charges = Fraud<ref name=conviction/> | criminal_penalty = 20 years in prison | criminal_status = Incarcerated | spouse = <!-- use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | parents = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters --> | mother = <!-- may be used (optionally with father parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | father = <!-- may be used (optionally with mother parameter) in place of parents parameter (displays "Parent(s)" as label) --> | relatives = | family = | callsign = <!-- amateur radio, use if relevant --> | awards = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}
'''Christopher Steven Kirchner''' (born August 1987)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-12 |title=Christopher Steven KIRCHNER |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/lzNpYyAoKNyKhIxznsw3Y58sPIc/appointments|access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Companies House |language=en}}</ref> is an American entrepreneur and convicted fraudster. The co-founder and former CEO of logistics company Slync.io, he was convicted on fraud and money laundering charges in January 2024.
== Early life and education ==
Kirchner was born in San Francisco, California<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hodgson |first1=George |title=What we know about Chris Kirchner's proposed takeover of Preston North End |url=https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/chris-kirchner-preston-takeover-pne-23311060 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |newspaper=Lancs Live |date=March 7, 2022}}</ref> and studied international marketing at Butler University before moving on to study communications at the University of Kentucky,<ref name="BLUK">{{cite news |last1=Pegden |first1=Tom |title=Chris Kirchner – who is the American businessman buying Derby County? |url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/ports-logistics/chris-kirchner--who-american-23979754 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |newspaper=Business Live UK |date=May 17, 2022}}</ref> leaving in 2009 before graduating.<ref name="Jeans-20Jul2022"/>
== Career == After leaving the University of Kentucky, he started Kirchner Entertainment, an advertising and entertainment company. He later took positions with tech supplier Best Buy until 2015 and then Lexington-based Turner Labels,<ref name="BLUK"/> where he met Raj Patel while working with a Salesforce contact.<ref name="Jeans-20Jul2022"/>
In 2017, Kirchner and Patel co-founded the logistics firm Slync.io, where Kirchner served as the company's CEO.<ref name="BLUK"/> Investors in the business included Goldman Sachs and Blumberg Capital, with funding rounds totaling $80m, valuing the company at $240m.<ref name="Jeans-20Jul2022"/>
In late 2021, Kirchner was also among several potential bidders for the then financially-troubled English association football club Derby County,<ref name="BBC-26Oct2021">{{cite news |title=Derby County: Wayne Rooney welcomes US businessman Chris Kirchner's interest in buying club |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59048184 |access-date=October 29, 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=October 26, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Curtis-05Nov2021">{{cite news |last1=Curtis |first1=Leigh |title=Derby County takeover race takes huge twist as £750m duo 'launch bid' to buy Rams |url=https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derby-county-takeover-kirchner-easdale-6168445 |access-date=November 8, 2021 |work=Derby Telegraph |date=November 5, 2021}}</ref> publicly declaring his interest in November<ref name="BBC-21Nov2021">{{cite news |title=Derby County: Administrators aim to find preferred buyer in 'two to three weeks' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59367021 |access-date=November 22, 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=November 21, 2021}}</ref> before withdrawing his bid on December 24, 2021.<ref name="Stone-24Dec2021">{{cite news |last1=Stone |first1=Simon |title=Derby County: Chris Kirchner withdraws bid to buy Championship club |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59772641 |access-date=December 24, 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=December 24, 2021}}</ref> After a failed attempt to buy Championship rivals Preston North End,<ref name="pnemarch2022">{{cite news |last1=Hodgson |first1=George |title=Deal 'close' for US businessman Chris Kirchner to take over Preston North End |url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/deal-close-businessman-chris-kirchner-23480462 |work=Lancs Live |date=March 23, 2022|access-date=February 15, 2023}}</ref><ref name="pneapril2022">{{cite news |last1=Hodgson |first1=George |title=Chris Kirchner speaks out on failed Preston North End takeover for the first time |url=https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/chris-kirchner-preston-derby-county-23644896 |work=Lancs Live |date=April 9, 2022|access-date=February 15, 2023}}</ref> he renewed his interest in Derby County and was confirmed as preferred bidder on April 6, 2022.<ref name="BBC-06Apr2022">{{cite news |title=Derby County: Chris Kirchner confirmed as preferred bidder to buy Rams |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60982044 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |work=BBC Sport |date=April 6, 2022}}</ref> He withdrew his bid for the club in June 2022.<ref name="Stone-13Jun2022">{{cite news |last1=Stone |first1=Simon |title=Derby County: Chris Kirchner withdraws bid to buy League One side |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61792048 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |work=BBC Sport |date=June 13, 2022}}</ref>
In July 2022, a ''Forbes'' investigation reported Kirchner had fired Slync.io executives after they raised questions about company funds; he was also facing a lawsuit for wrongful termination and claims of "fraudulent behavior". He was said to have told Slync.io's board that the business had generated close to $30 million in revenue in 2021, from about 20 customers, while the real figures were closer to $1 million from fewer than five customers.<ref name="Jeans-20Jul2022">{{cite news |last1=Jeans |first1=David |title=Golf Tournaments, A Private Jet And A Red Ferrari: A Tech CEO Lived Large While His Employees Went Unpaid |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2022/07/20/slync-ceo-chris-kirchner-goldman-sachs |access-date=February 21, 2023 |work=Forbes |date=July 20, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Kirchner was first suspended<ref name="Jeans-25Jul2023">{{cite news |last1=Jeans |first1=David |title=High-Living CEO Of Goldman Sachs-Backed Slync Suspended Following Reports Of Financial Impropriety |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2022/07/25/slync-ceo-chris-kirchner-suspended/ |access-date=February 21, 2023 |work=Forbes |date=July 25, 2023}}</ref> and then fired by Slync.io in August 2022<ref name="Jeans-20Jul2022"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Slync.io Lays off Staff and Fires CEO Chris Kirchner |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/slync-layoffs-ceo-fired-kirchner-supply-chain-tech-goldman-2022-8 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |publisher=Business Insider |date=August 5, 2022}}</ref> after making financial misrepresentations to the company board.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jeans |first1=David |title=High-Living CEO Of Goldman Sachs-Backed Slync Suspended Following Reports Of Financial Impropriety |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2022/07/25/slync-ceo-chris-kirchner-suspended/?sh=43658d1f2fe4 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |work=Forbes |date=July 25, 2022}}</ref>
In October 2023, Slync.io went into liquidation, saying it could not continue to operate "due to its financial underperformance and Kirchner’s [alleged] fraud".<ref name="Jeans-25Oct2023">{{cite news |last1=Jeans |first1=David |title=Goldman Sachs-Backed Slync Is Shutting Down — Months After Its Founder Was Arrested On Fraud Charges |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2023/10/25/slync-goldman-sachs-shutting-down/ |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=Forbes |date=25 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="Hawes-23Oct2023">{{cite news |last1=Hawes |first1=Clarissa |title=Amid legal woes, Slync seeks alternative to bankruptcy, winds down operations |url=https://www.freightwaves.com/news/slync-files-for-bankruptcy-ceases-operations-amid-former-ceos-legal-woes |access-date=12 February 2024 |work=FreightWaves |date=23 October 2023}}</ref>
== Wire fraud and money laundering convictions == In February 2023, Kirchner's home in Westlake, Texas was raided by the FBI<ref name="Jeans-14Feb2023">{{cite news |last1=Jeans |first1=David |title=FBI Raids Home Of Former CEO Of Goldman Sachs-Backed Tech Company Slync |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2023/02/14/fbi-raid-chris-kirchner-slync-goldman-sachs/ |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=Forbes |date=February 14, 2023}}</ref> and he was charged with wire fraud for transferring $20 million in company funds to his personal bank account while employed at Slync.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Skores |first1=Alexandra |title=Feds charge Dallas tech company's ex-CEO in $67 million fraud |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2023/02/14/feds-charge-dallas-tech-companys-ex-ceo-in-67-million-fraud/ |access-date=February 14, 2023 |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=February 14, 2023}}</ref> Leigha Simonton, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas alleged Kirchner had used the money to fund a "lavish lifestyle", including a $16m private Gulfstream jet, a $495,000 luxury suite at a Dallas sports stadium, prestige cars including a Rolls-Royce,<ref name="Torr-16Feb2023">{{cite news |last1=Torr |first1=George |title=Chris Kirchner: Fraud charge for man who tried to buy Derby County |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-64661252 |access-date=February 21, 2023 |work=BBC News |date=February 16, 2023}}</ref> and membership of an exclusive Dallas-area golf club called the Vaquero.<ref name="Jeans-25Jul2023"/>
In January 2024 a federal jury in Texas convicted Kirchner of four counts of wire fraud and a further seven counts of money laundering, defrauding investors of at least $25 million.<ref name=conviction>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-25 |title=Northern District of Texas {{!}} Jury Convicts Slync Founder {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/jury-convicts-slync-founder |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref> He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay over $65m in restitution.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yousuf |first1=Saad |title=Chris Kirchner, former prospective Derby County owner, sentenced to 20 years for fraud |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5630588/2024/07/11/chris-kirchner-sentence-fraud/ |access-date=July 11, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=July 11, 2024}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchner, Chris}}
Category:Living people Category:1987 births Category:University of Kentucky alumni Category:Butler University alumni Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:American people convicted of mail and wire fraud Category:American people convicted of money laundering Category:American prisoners and detainees Category:Prisoners and detainees of Texas Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes