Oprah, Stephen Colbert, Steve Harvey, Bill Gates, and A-Rod all seemed to be fans of Carlos Watson, the cofounder of Ozy Media.
The celebrities were among the crowded cast of A-listers who interviewed (or were interviewed by) Watson as his digital media company—which included newsletters, podcasts, and even an “Ozy Fest” event—appeared to be on the rise.
Today, there are no celebrities on-hand or VC backers writing big checks. And interviews about Watson and Ozy Media are taking place on the witness stand in a Brooklyn courtroom. Ozy itself has ceased operations (first in 2021, then again in 2023) and Watson is on trial facing criminal charges that include “conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.”
We’ve been getting updates from the trial, and there’s been a steady drip of notable developments that I suspect are of interest to Term Sheet readers.
The biggest involves Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who testified last week that, contrary to Watson’s alleged claims to an investor, Google never offered to buy Ozy for $600 million. Though Pichai said Google at one point had considered hiring Watson and investing $25 million in Ozy, Pichai’s testimony made clear that any talk of a big-deal-buyout was just a tall tale. (Watson’s lawyer denies that Watson ever told an investor of a $600 million Google deal).
Then there are the former Ozy executives who have so far testified against Watson, including Ozy cofounder Samir Rao. It’s a story that’s now been retold several times across media outlets, but Rao said it under oath earlier this month—Rao told the courtroom that he impersonated YouTube executive Alex Piper to Goldman Sachs at Watson’s urging.
Rao and Watson even attempted to use voice-altering software in the process, according to Rao’s testimony. It wasn’t persuasive.
“The voice that was coming out had kind of an altered quality when a voice was modified or something,” Rao reportedly said on the stand.
Suzee Han, Ozy’s ex-chief of staff, testified that she lied to investors at Watson’s behest, over and over, as Ozy’s financial situation became increasingly dire. (In 2023, Han and Rao both pled guilty to their own Ozy-related charges.) At one point, she spoke about a 2019 pitch deck that showed the company’s profit at negative $2 million—a figure that she now says was a gross understatement.
“It was more than negative $10 million,” she reportedly told the court.
This trial is still very much in progress, and more will undoubtedly come to light. It’s also vital to note that Watson pled not guilty to all charges and that his lawyers have argued that it was Rao, as COO, who was responsible for misrepresentations to investors.
For my part, I’m pretty stuck on this point about the pitch deck. Ozy had major backers, including Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective, Axel Springer, GSV Capital, Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, and Ron Conway. How many pitch decks have out-and-out lies? Do investors catch them? Could I?
And, more saliently, it drives home something broader about the private markets: This is a game often viewed as being about who you know—but it’s ultimately about who you can trust.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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