Former Farfetch executives accused of ‘serious mismanagement’ in High Court case

It is understood that three former leaders at the global ecommerce retailer are in a High Court dispute with liquidators amid allegations of “serious mismanagement” which took place before the retailer’s collapse and sale to Coupang last year, according to The Times.

The newspaper reported that liquidators have raised concerns that Farfetch may have been “seriously mismanaged” by members of its top team ahead of its collapse.

The three former employees at the centre of the dispute are understood to be founder and former chief executive José Neves, former group president Stephanie Phair and ex-chief financial officer Elliot Jordan.

Court documents show that liquidator Alvarez & Marsal are concerned regarding “such a rapid and drastic deterioration in the company’s finances”.

It is understood that Alvarez & Marsal wants to “investigate the circumstances” leading up to Coupang’s takeover of the business last year before it was subsequently put into liquidation.

The liquidator said in recent court documents that the company had “effectively written off over $1bn of debt obligations owed to it by way of the intercompany loans, and has effectively been deprived of its ownership and interests in the Farfetch business as a whole. This took place without any public explanation in circumstances where, as recently as August 2023, the company and its directors had stated publicly that its business was in good financial health.”

Alvarez & Marsal also accused the former directors of “failing to respond to requests for documents and information on a voluntary basis”, despite this being “critical” to the investigation.

Farfetch, Alvarez & Marsal and José Neves did not respond to requests for comment.