This morning’s article in The Times “Why Steven Bartlett is not the tycoon he claimed” has become the subject of a legal complaint from the Social Chain founder and Dragon’s Den star, the paper reports.
The article, which questioned the veracity of Bartlett’s claims regarding the value of the business he founded, which would later go on to be a component part of the near £600m valued Social Chain AG, was briefly pulled from The Times’ website before reappearing in edited form with the following prefix: “This article is the subject of a legal complaint from Steven Bartlett.”
The Times also later added the following paragraph: “Following publication of this article, Steven Bartlett has informed us that he does retain a “significant” shareholding in Social Chain AG and that he was under contract to work for the company “on a range of strategic matters” at the time of the $600m valuation, including the up-listing to the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt stock exchange, for which he received a “further package of virtual shares/options”. We are happy to make this clear and have amended the article accordingly.”
Bartlett has been uncharacteristically quiet regarding the article on his social media channels. Last week he enthusiastically defended himself against questions over the Social Chain sale raised by netizens, while he announced on Twitter earlier today he would be donating $100,000 to the relief efforts for the earthquake on the Turkey/Syria border.
Given that a legal process has apparently now been put in place, his decision to stay silent on the matter should probably come as no great surprise.
