Alt5 Sigma, a cryptocurrency firm closely tied to the Trumps’ World Liberty Financial, disclosed in a filing filed on the eve of Thanksgiving that it had fired its acting CEO, removed its operations chief, and accepted the resignation of a director — the same executives involved in the company’s previous boss’ suspension.
Alt5 Sigma informed the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 22 in a filing signed by acting CEO Jonathan Hugh that CEO Peter Tassiopoulos had been suspended effective Oct. 16—but an internal email reviewed by Forbes shows the board placed Tassiopoulos on “temporary leave” six weeks earlier, on Sept. 4.
According to SEC guidelines, public firms must report within four business days when their executive officer effectively leaves that job, and experts told that materially false or misleading reports might violate anti-fraud laws, but proving such a breach can be challenging.
That note, written on September 4 by Alt5 Sigma’s chief operations officer and director Ron Pitters and signed by director David Danziger, revealed that Hugh, who had been designated Alt5 Sigma’s chief financial officer in August, would also take on the CEO role.
Less than three months later, those three executives are either no longer with the firm or have drastically reduced roles: Alt5 Sigma disclosed in a filing after markets closed the day before Thanksgiving that it had terminated Hugh’s employment without cause, ended 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.
The Trump-founded World Liberty Financial and Alt5 Sigma are closely related. In August, Alt5 Sigma purchased roughly $1.5 billion of the $WLFI cryptocurrency as part of a circular deal that sent more than an estimated $500 million to an organization connected to President Donald Trump; two cofounders of World Liberty Financial, including chairperson Zach Witkoff, are on the board; Eric Trump is a strategic advisor and board observer for Alt5 Sigma; and World Liberty Financial owns 1 million shares in Alt5 Sigma with warrants for an additional 99 million shares.
Inquiries concerning the personnel changes were not answered by Tassiopolous, Hugh, Pitters, Danziger, or a representative for Alt5 Sigma and World Liberty Financial.
What We Are Unaware of
It’s still unclear if the latest staff changes were influenced by the apparent differences over the CEO’s suspension dates. We also don’t understand why, despite the internal communication stating that Tassiopoulos was placed on “temporary leave” by September 4, the business informed the SEC that the suspension was effective on October 16. Why Pitters’ consulting contract terminated and why Alt5 Sigma elevated Hugh to interim CEO before firing him weeks later are also unanswered.
Who Currently Manages Alt5 Sigma?
Tony Isaac, the president of Alt5 Sigma and a board member since May 2015, has taken up his former position as acting CEO. From 2016 to 2024, he was the CEO. Steven Plumb, who owns a business that offers temporary CFO services to small public firms, is the new chief financial officer.
How Trump Makes Money: While President
The president can generate money from his companies while in office via the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which he employed during his first term. According to SEC filings and past Trump Organization declarations, he is the single contributor and beneficiary, with Donald Trump Jr. serving as trustee. The Trump Organization affirmed in an April regulatory filing in the United Kingdom that Trump maintains ownership of his enterprises while in office. World Liberty Financial debuted in September 2024, touting itself as a decentralized finance platform “inspired by the vision of Donald J. Trump.” According to the brief print on its website, a Trump-affiliated LLC owns approximately 38% of World Liberty Financial and 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens, and is entitled to approximately 75% of token sales earnings.
A $wlfi Token: What Is It?
The tokens provide holders the ability to vote on choices that impact the project, but they are not backed by real assets and do not reflect ownership in any corporation. “The $WLFI token is a cryptocurrency that is representative of the WLFI ecosystem, beyond its role in the governance system,” a World Liberty Financial spokesman told. In October 2024, the project started offering non-transferable $WLFI tokens to international and accredited investors. The tokens were first priced at $0.015, then a second round was priced at $0.05. In July, investors opted to enable early holders to sell a part of their tokens, but founders, including the Trumps, are still prohibited. According to CoinGecko, as of 10 a.m. EST on Friday, the tokens were trading at more than triple what many early investors paid, but were down roughly 53% from their public market peak.
What Other Issues Does Alt5 Sigma Face?
The business seemed to file a second SEC filing with inaccurate information a few weeks after filing one with an apparent error over the dates of the CEO’s suspension. Due to the retirement of its only partner, Alt5 Sigma informed the SEC on Friday that its independent accountant, Hudgens CPA, PLLC, informed the business on November 21 that it was leaving “effective immediately.” However, the firm’s partner, William Hudgens, told that he notified Alt5 Sigma before June 30 that he would leave following the company’s second-quarter report, which was submitted on August 12. This wasn’t because he was retiring, but rather because his company was leaving the public company auditing industry. Alt5 Sigma has also failed to publish a report for the third quarter of 2025, which ended in September, prompting Nasdaq to place the firm on its list of “noncompliant companies” and issue it a letter informing it that it “no longer meets the continued listing requirement.” There was no immediate impact on its listing, and the company has until January 20, 2026, to present a strategy to reestablish conformity. A special committee of the board recently completed an examination into a subsidiary’s legal issues in Rwanda, where it was convicted criminally accountable for unlawful enrichment and money laundering, a judgment it is appealing while claiming to be the victim of fraud. Alt5 Sigma stock was trading at $1.4950 at 10 a.m. EST on Friday, down over 82% from $8.42 when the World Liberty Financial transaction was disclosed.
Big number
Approximately $1.1 billion. As of 10 a.m. EST on Friday, Alt5 Sigma’s 7.28 billion $WLFI tokens were worth more than six times the company’s $184 million market capitalization, according to CoinGecko.
What to Look For
There’s a lot. Alt5 Sigma stated that company will reveal specifics concerning Hugh and Pitters’ exits in a future SEC filing “if such terms require reporting.” Similarly, for information on Plumb’s remuneration beyond the $339,400 base salary that the business has already agreed to give him. (The corporation did not reach an agreement with Isaac over his interim CEO status.) There is also the question of whether Tassiopoulos will be restored as CEO and continue to serve on the company’s board. There are also anomalies in its SEC filings, a missing third-quarter report, Alt5 Sigma’s effort to achieve Nasdaq compliance, and an appeal of the Rwanda court verdict.
Tangent
Previously, Pitters served as the CIO of Axos Financial, a financial services company with ties to Trump.
Forbes’ valuation
Eric Trump’s net worth is estimated by Forbes to be at $400 million, or around ten times what it was before his father was re-elected last year. Donald Trump’s net worth is now assessed at $6.4 billion.
