Founded in late 2020, from the ashes of Andy Rubin's Essential, the company has produced two products free from his influence. It recruited several former Essential employees, including camera engineer Nick Franco, programmers Gary Anderson and Jean-Baptiste Théou, and marketing officer Wolfgang Muller.
OSOM, an acronym for “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” declared its mission to develop privacy-focused products. In early 2021, the company appointed Mary Stone Ross as its “Chief Privacy Officer” to spearhead these efforts.
In 2022, OSOM launched its inaugural product: the Saga, an Android smartphone supported by the prominent cryptocurrency and blockchain platform company Solana. The following year, it introduced its second product, the OSOM Privacy Cable, and reportedly engaged in discussions with Solana Mobile to develop a successor to the Saga. However, not only has the Solana Saga Two been cancelled, but the entire smartphone venture may end.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday, 30 August 2024, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (C.A. No. 2024-0894-BWD), Mary Ross, who departed the company in May 2024 according to her LinkedIn profile, petitioned the court to compel OSOM Products, Inc. to grant her access to the company’s books and records. She initiated this legal action to substantiate her numerous allegations of financial mismanagement by founder and “Chief Hooligan” Jason Keats.
The allegations outlined in the lawsuit are profoundly damning if proved true. The lawsuit alleges, citing several meetings with the company’s Board and internal documents provided by former CMO Muller, that Keats misused company funds to acquire two Lamborghinis, finance his racing hobby, pay his racing partner’s salary, expense multiple first-class travel tickets, and cover his mortgage.
The suit suggests that the company’s previous Head of Finance may have resigned due to these practices and that the replacement was appointed to process payments for Keats’ expenses.
Keats allegedly attempted to pivot the company towards developing an “AI-powered camera” as its following product following the collapse of its smartphone plans. Prior to this pivot, Keats purportedly tried to orchestrate a sale of OSOM Products to HP; the lawsuit claims that Keats asserted HP would acquire OSOM for a certain amount, but the price continually decreased, and the deal never materialised.
According to the suit, OSOM’s resources are allegedly depleted, and Keats has claimed the company now needs to raise additional capital to continue.
OSOM, however, provided the following statement: “We are aware of the outlandish allegations by a former employee, and look forward to disproving them in court.” – OSOM spokesperson.