Khan claims his company is the majority owner.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: The richest Pakistani in the world, billionaire Pakistani American Shahid ‘Shad’ Khan, 64, who is the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League and the English Football League Championship team Fulham F.C., has sued a bakery in Florida claiming his company Stache Investment has the majority share in it, and not the bakery owners.
Khan, whose reported worth is around $4.6 billion, bought the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011 for $760 million, making him the first ethnic minority member ever to own an NFL team.
Khan has filed suit against U.S. Culinary & Beverage, the owners of Edgewood Bakery, a bakery that’s been around since 1947, reported First Coast News. Tom and Carol Rykalsky have owned the bakery since June, after receiving financial assistance from Khan’s investment firm, Stache Investment.
“The world is kind of crashing down on us,” says Carol, who left a job that included retirement benefits to help her husband Tom open the bakery.
The couple says things were going well until late October when a representative from Stache tried to fire them and said Khan owned the bakery.
“We own 80 percent of this place. How can you terminate us?” Carol said.
The lawsuit filed by Stache Investments says Rykalsky and associates could never have majority ownership in U.S. Culinary because Stache created the company. It was an entity that Stache allowed Rykalsky and associates to manage, not own.
The Rykalskys have filed a counter suit but are not sure what will happen next.
A spokesman for Khan says the goal is doing his part to support local entrepreneurs and ensure that the Edgewood Bakery survives and thrives as a Jacksonville neighborhood icon for many years to come.
Jim Woodcock, spokesperson for Shad Khan and Stache Investments issued this statement to First Coast News:
“Mr. Khan and Stache Investments have one clear and unqualified intention – to continue to support deserving Jacksonville-based businesses and entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, Mr. Khan enthusiastically stepped forward to preserve the historic Edgewood Bakery in Murray Hill and, specifically, help achieve the business vision of Jacksonville businessman Tom Rykalsky to produce and distribute healthy baked goods for school children. Recently, Mr. Rykalsky took exclusive control of the bakery’s operations, with the result today that Edgewood Bakery’s future appears to be in serious jeopardy. Mr. Rykalsky and his associates claim that they are the majority owners of the bakery and over the past several weeks have rejected Stache’s claim that it is the rightful majority owner, despite clear evidence supporting Stache’s position. To resolve this dispute, Stache is now asking a court to determine who is the majority owner and, during the time needed to reach resolution, to put the bakery in the control of a neutral receiver to protect the Edgewood Bakery, its employees and vendors.
“Mr. Khan regrets needing to take this step and will trust the legal system to take it from here and arrive at an appropriate resolution. In the meantime, this matter does not change Mr. Khan’s goal – doing his part to support local entrepreneurs and ensure that the Edgewood Bakery survives and thrives as a Jacksonville neighborhood icon for many years to come.”
Khan, born in Lahore, and who emigrated to the US at the age of 16 for higher studies, was featured on the front cover of Forbes Magazine in 2012, as the face of the American Dream.
1 Comment
Stache Investments is stepping all over these people. The community of Jacksonville DOES NOT want Stache Investments in control of Edgewood Bakery.