Years after muscling out cofounders, Tom Chavez sells Rapt to Microsoft
Microsoft will acquire San Francisco-based Rapt, which helps publishers manage their ad inventory. VCs Kip Sheeline of Levensohn Venture Partners and Arthur Patterson of Accel Partners saw their firms cash out on the deal, along with cofounder and CEO Tom Chavez. But not without a little founder blood on their hands.
Back in 2006, Rapt cofounders Adam Galper and Paul Dagum sued Sheeline and Patterson's firms, accusing them and Chavez of unfairly bolstering their stakes in Rapt. But that's sometimes what happens when a startup needs four funding rounds. The parties settled 10 days later. We're hoping somebody remains bitter enough to tell us how much Microsoft paid.