Founder of Shark Tank-backed startup Scholly sues his acquirer Sallie Mae

TLDR

• Scholly founder Chris Gray is suing Sallie Mae for wrongful termination, alleging it sold student data through a non-bank subsidiary after his acquisition.

Key Facts

• Gray sold Scholly to Sallie Mae in July 2023 and became a VP; he was fired roughly a year later after raising data privacy concerns.
• He alleges Sallie Mae routed Scholly’s user data through SLM Education Services, a subsidiary not subject to banking regulations, which sells names, age, race, gender, and location to advertisers and universities.
• Sallie Mae launched Sallie.com in December 2024, which publicly discloses selling customer data to ad networks, educational institutions, and data resellers.
• Sallie Mae called Gray’s allegations “without merit” and said it plans to vigorously defend the claims.

Why It Matters

• The case raises direct questions about whether acquiring banks can use unregulated subsidiaries to monetize user data they could not sell directly.
• Gray also filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC, widening potential scrutiny beyond civil litigation.

Dominic-Madori Davis, Sean O’Kane — TechCrunch · 2026-04-28 · Read the original