Foundation Future Industries, a military robotics startup advised by Eric Trump, missed payroll on Oct. 30 and has not paid employees since, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
CEO and co-founder Sankaet Pathak borrowed $4.6 million from the company last year to purchase a $4.6 million home in Sausalito, California, money that employees say could have covered wages. Public records show an LLC naming Pathak as sole principal bought the property in October 2025.
The cash crunch intensified an existing governance problem. Pathak serves as Foundation's sole board member and owns most shares, a structure that allowed him to take the loan without broader approval. Foundation also ran out of cash for payroll in August 2025, though employees received payment after the company secured a bridge loan from an existing investor.
Pathak told employees this week he was working to source money for back wages. The company faces pressure to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at a $3 billion valuation as Pathak prepares to unveil what he calls a weapons-ready robot.
Foundation claims $24 million in Pentagon contracts, though it acquired those through purchasing Florida-based Boardwalk Robotics in late 2024 rather than winning them directly. That acquisition included performance milestones the robot has not yet reached.
Insiders worry Foundation could collapse without fresh funding. Co-founder Mike LeBlanc previously said he was "embarrassed" about marketing materials that cited a $300 million purchase order from General Motors, a claim the automaker rejected.
Pathak previously founded Synapse, a fintech middleman that collapsed in 2024. More than 100,000 people lost access to combined deposits of $265 million held at community banks through Synapse's platform. A bankruptcy trustee, former FDIC chair Jelena McWilliams, said as much as $96 million in customer funds went missing.