Fired Parler CEO John Matze Sues Company Over 'Orchestrated Theft' of Ownership Stake

John Matze, the former CEO of Parler, has filed a lawsuit against the social media site alleging an "orchestrated theft" of his ownership stake.

Matze was fired by Parler, which brands itself as an alternative social media site promoting free speech, in January 2021, but is now suing the company for wrongful termination.

Matze's lawsuit, which was filed in Nevada's Clark County District Court on Monday, seeks "millions in compensatory" damages, alleging an "orchestrated theft" of his 40 percent ownership stake.

Parler was previously forced offline after Amazon Web Services suspended its hosting of the application prompting its removal from both the Google and Apple mobile application stores. The decision by Amazon Web Services came after the January 6 Capitol riots, as many believe that conservatives who participated in the riots used Parler as a way to communicate and plan the incident.

In the lawsuit, Matze alleges that after Parler was de-platformed, fellow co-founder Rebekah Mercer "sought to co-opt it as a symbol or as the 'tip of the spear' for her brand of conservatism, and plotted to force Matze out as CEO, Manager, and Member, and steal his forty percent (40%) ownership interest."

"Indeed, while Mercer readily acknowledged and broadly boasted (including to business and political acquaintances) that Parler was an enterprise worth hundreds of millions of dollars, if not a billion dollars, she and others orchestrated a theft of Matze's 40% ownership, claiming that it could be taken from him for a mere $3.00," the suit states.

The suit goes on to state that, "This outlandish and arrogant theft, which occurred in Nevada, is the product of a conspiratorial agreement and actions taken both inside and outside of Nevada, that include intimidating threats and defamatory accusations of misconduct all designed to bully and deprive Matze of his valuable personal property and legal rights."

In a statement sent to the Las Vegas Sun, Matze's attorney James Pisanelli, wrote that Matze, "looks forward to presenting his claims in court and being vindicated."

Newsweek reached out to Matze and Pisanelli for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

This is not the first time Matze has went on the attack against Mercer, who helped fund the social media site around the time of its launch.

While speaking with Axios in February, Matze said he felt "betrayed" by Mercer following his termination from the company.

"I thought I knew her.… I thought that she was, generally speaking, I thought she was being real. And then she just abruptly has her people fire me and doesn't even talk to me about it," Matze told Axios. "I feel like it was a stab in the back by somebody that I thought I knew. And so for me, you know, I would never do business with her again."