A former president of hair and skincare company Monat is suing the company's founders, claiming they owe him millions in promised profits and have turned into what he calls a "mafia family and unprincipled syndicate."
Stuart MacMillan joined Monat in 2014, fresh from a controversial stint as interim CEO at TelexFree, the multilevel marketing scheme that eventually collapsed into a Ponzi scheme. He says he built Monat from scratch into a company generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue with millions of customers and hundreds of thousands of market partners worldwide.
When MacMillan signed on as president, he claims Luis and Rayner Urdaneta—the company's founder and CEO—promised him three percent of Monat's profits. He would receive the payments while employed and for a set period afterward. He also became a board member, though he describes the position as purely symbolic.
The board was barely functional. It met only three times during MacMillan's nine years as a director. It held no annual meetings except during a brief period MacMillan insisted on. No one recorded meeting minutes. The board had a secretary for only three of those nine years. And MacMillan had no voting rights despite holding a seat.
By 2019, cracks appeared. Luis and Rayner Urdaneta threatened to fire MacMillan unless he signed a noncompete and non-solicit agreement. MacMillan alleges the founders "felt threatened by Monat's employees and independent contractor market partners' loyalty and affection towards MacMillan." He capitulated and signed a new agreement in October 2019 that incorporated the earlier profit-sharing promise along with the new restrictions. The Urdanetas' own attorney drafted the document.
MacMillan resigned in June 2023. Then the situation turned hostile.
Before payments were due in March 2024, the Urdanetas imposed a new condition: MacMillan could have zero contact with approximately 3,000 Monat employees and contractors. Without this severing of all ties, they said, they wouldn't pay him the post-employment compensation owed under the profit-sharing agreement.
MacMillan calls the demand baseless. The contract contains nothing about cutting off contact with staff and partners. He argues it's a pretense the Urdanetas invented to avoid paying what they promised.
The lawsuit hinges on whether the founders breached their agreement and whether they violated fiduciary duties by failing to maximize company profits as they allegedly pledged. MacMillan wants the millions he claims are owed under the deal he signed with them.
🤖 Quick Answer
Who is Stuart MacMillan and what is his dispute with Monat?Stuart MacMillan, former president of Monat hair and skincare company, is suing founders Luis and Rayner Urdaneta over unpaid profits. He claims they promised him three percent of company profits but failed to deliver. MacMillan previously served as interim CEO at TelexFree, a multilevel marketing scheme that collapsed into a Ponzi scheme.
What allegations does MacMillan make about Monat's growth?
MacMillan claims he built Monat from startup into a company generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue with millions of customers and hundreds of thousands of market partners worldwide. He joined the company in 2014 and asserts his leadership was instrumental in achieving this significant business expansion.
What are the key terms of MacMillan's promised compensation?
According to MacMillan's claims, the
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