Du Val has hoarded all this stock, apparently it has worked, you can argue the ethics of it, but he seems to have pulled it off. Why not just write off this relatively small amount for a company with $200m revenue? Why draw attention to yourself and your company?
Is it an ego thing?
"[redacted]'s at-will employment was terminated for the reasons herein explained, and [redacted] left Toptal’s employ unjustly enriched, and with amounts owed by him to Toptal in the form of unpaid loan amounts, unreimbursed credit card charges of a purely personal nature, and restitution for amounts caused to be embezzled and diverted to his girlfriend and for an unapproved, self-awarded bonus, totaling at least $629,850.46."
If the COO just kept quiet, I think it would have been worth it to forget even $630k, but I guess could say it also sends a message.
I don't think most people on HN knew about the interesting events related to ownership of Toptal, so good for us the suit happened.
"47. On July 3, 2019, [redacted] wired $466,373.67 to Toptal."
so, this whole lawsuit seems to be about: $163,476.79