Alt5 Sigma, a cryptocurrency company deeply tied to Trump’s World Liberty Financial, revealed the ouster of its interim CEO, the removal of its chief operating officer and the acceptance of a director’s resignation in a filing filed on the cusp of the Thanksgiving holiday — the same executives involved in a confusing timeline regarding the suspension of the company’s previous boss.
Key data
On Oct. 22, Alt5 Sigma informed the Securities and Exchange Commission in a filing signed by interim CEO Jonathan Hugh that it had suspended CEO Peter Tassiopoulos effective Oct. 16, but an internal email reviewed by Forbes shows the board placed Tassiopoulos on “temporary leave” on Sept. 4, six weeks earlier.
Under SEC rules, public companies must report within four business days when their CEO effectively ceases to serve in that role, and experts told Forbes that materially false or misleading filings can violate anti-fraud laws, although establishing such a violation can be difficult.
That Sept. 4 message, sent by Alt5 Sigma COO and Director Ron Pitters and signed by Director David Danziger, announced that Hugh, who had been named Alt5 Sigma’s CFO in August, would also assume CEO duties.
Less than three months later, those three executives are no longer with the company or have greatly reduced roles: In a presentation made after markets closed the day before Thanksgiving, Alt5 Sigma revealed that it had fired Hugh without cause; terminated Pitters’ consulting agreement, removing him as chief operating officer but keeping him on the board; and accepted Danziger’s resignation from the board for personal reasons.
Alt5 Sigma has close ties to World Liberty Financial, founded by Trump: Alt5 Sigma acquired about $1.5 billion of the $WLFI cryptocurrency in August as part of a circular deal that sent more than roughly half a billion dollars to an entity affiliated with President Donald Trump; two co-founders of World Liberty Financial serve on Alt5 Sigma’s board, including president Zach Witkoff; Eric Trump is a strategic advisor and board observer for Alt5 Sigma; and World Liberty Financial owns 1 million shares of Alt5 Sigma with warrants for 99 million more.
Tassiopolous, Hugh, Pitters, Danziger and a spokesperson for Alt5 Sigma and World Liberty Financial did not respond to questions about the personnel moves.
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What we don’t know
It is unclear whether apparent discrepancies over the CEO’s suspension dates influenced the recent personnel changes. We also don’t know why the company informed the SEC that the suspension took effect on October 16, when the internal email indicates that Tassiopoulos was placed on “temporary leave” on September 4. Nor is it explained why Alt5 Sigma promoted Hugh to interim CEO only to remove him weeks later, or why Pitters’ consulting contract was terminated.
Who runs Alt5 Sigma now?
Tony Isaac, president of Alt5 Sigma and a member of its board of directors since May 2015, has returned to the role of interim CEO. He previously served in the role from 2016 to 2024. The new CFO is Steven Plumb, who runs a company that provides interim CFO services to small, publicly traded companies.
How Trump makes money as president
The president can earn income from his businesses during his term through the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the same vehicle he used during his first term. Trump is its sole donor and beneficiary, while Donald Trump Jr. serves as trustee, according to SEC filings and previous statements from the Trump Organization. The Trump Organization confirmed in an April U.K. regulatory filing that Trump retains control of his businesses while in office. World Liberty Financial launched in September 2024, presenting itself as a decentralized financial platform “inspired by the vision of Donald J. Trump.” A Trump-affiliated LLC owns about 38% of World Liberty Financial, as well as 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens, and is entitled to about 75% of the proceeds from the token sale, according to brief text on its website.
What is a $wlfi token?
Tokens do not represent ownership of any company nor are they backed by underlying assets; They allow their owners to vote on decisions that affect the project. “Beyond its role in the governance system,” a World Liberty Financial spokesperson told Forbes, “the $WLFI token is a representative cryptocurrency of the WLFI ecosystem.” The project began selling non-transferable $WLFI tokens in October 2024 to accredited and foreign investors, with an initial price of $0.015 and a second round of $0.05. In July, investors voted to allow early holders to sell a portion of their tokens, although founders, including the Trumps, remain restricted. As of 10 a.m. EST on Friday, the tokens were trading at more than triple what many early investors paid, but down 53% from their public market peak, according to CoinGecko.
What other problems does Alt5 Sigma face?
Just weeks after the company filed a statement with the SEC with an apparent discrepancy over the dates of the CEO’s suspension, it apparently filed a second statement with erroneous information. Alt5 Sigma reported to the SEC on Friday that its independent accountant, Hudgens CPA, PLLC, notified the company on Nov. 21 that it would resign “effective immediately” due to the retirement of its sole partner. However, William Hudgens, a partner at the firm, told Forbes that he informed Alt5 Sigma before June 30 that he would resign after its second quarter report, which was filed on August 12, not because he was retiring, but because his firm was getting out of the business of auditing publicly traded companies. Alt5 Sigma has yet to file a report for the third quarter of 2025, which ended in September, a failure that led Nasdaq to include the firm on its list of “non-compliant companies” and send it a letter notifying it that it “no longer meets the requirement to continue trading.” Its listing had no immediate impact, and the firm has until January 20, 2026 to present a plan to regain regulatory compliance. A special committee of the board of directors recently concluded an investigation that included examining the legal problems of a subsidiary in Rwanda, where it was found criminally responsible for illicit enrichment and money laundering. He is appealing this verdict, claiming to have been a victim of fraud. Alt5 Sigma shares were trading at $1.4950 as of 10 a.m. EST on Friday, down 82% from the $8.42 they were trading at when the deal with World Liberty Financial was announced.
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big number
Approximately 1.1 billion dollars. That’s the value of Alt5 Sigma’s 7.28 billion $WLFI tokens as of 10:00 a.m. EST on Friday, according to CoinGecko, more than six times the company’s market capitalization of $184 million.
What to pay attention to
There is a lot to say. Alt5 Sigma said it would disclose details about the conditions of Hugh and Pitters’ departure in a future SEC filing “if such conditions require disclosure.” Likewise, details are being sought about Plumb’s compensation, beyond the base salary of $339,400 that the company has already committed to paying him. (The company did not reach an agreement with Isaac to take over as interim CEO.) There is also the question of whether Tassiopoulos will be reinstated as CEO and whether he will continue on its board of directors. Then there are the discrepancies in its SEC filings, the absence of the third quarter report, Alt5 Sigma’s plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq, and the appeal of the court ruling in Rwanda.
Tangent
Pitters was previously CIO of Axos Financial, a financial services holding company that has done significant business with Donald Trump.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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