The Gathering Spot (TGS), a Black-owned and operated members-only club for Black professionals, made waves last week when it announced its new chief financial officer would be Mike McCloskey, a white man.
Soon after, members of the private club began to probe deeper into recent, concerning changes to TGS since its acquisition by Greenwood Inc. Now, founders T’Keel “TK” Petersen and Ryan Wilson have filed a lawsuit against the fintech company alleging that Greenwood has failed to pay them money they are owed as well as breaching its purchasing agreement through the replacement of C-suite level executives.
Many Black professionals turned to The Gathering Spot as a safe and culturally inclusive alternative to Soho House and other private clubs that allegedly often discriminate based on race. However, major changes have started to cause members to no longer turn to TGS for their working needs and have them considering ending their memberships altogether. Former TMZ personality Van Lathan took to Instagram, identifying himself as a founding member of the Los Angeles location, and expressed his disappointment over recent news. “I could join any social or co-working space in Los Angeles I want to. I joined this one because it was Black-owned, Black-run, and Black Black,” he said. “Firing a founder and adding a white dude to the C-suite is at cross purposes with everything I joined for.”
Petersen, who was relieved of his duties as TGS’ COO in an announcement last week, along with Wilson, originally saw the acquisition as a way to further the club’s commitment to empowering the Black community with financial resources, according to AfroTech. “Joining with Greenwood is a commitment to our community, and we share Greenwood’s vision in empowering people and helping them to build opportunity and generational wealth,” Wilson said then. Greenwood paid $50 million to acquire The Gathering Spot this year and has since said the company is not profitable, refusing to pay the promised $5 million earn-out payment if TGS reached $15 million in revenue.
Greenwood executives allege that Wilson and Petersen were not transparent about The Gathering Spot’s valuation at the time of the 2022 acquisition.