Former Iconix CEO Neil Cole Acquitted on Two Conspiracy Charges In Partial Verdict

Neil Cole, the founder and former CEO of Iconix Brand Group Inc., has been acquitted on two charges of conspiracy, according to a report from Law360. A Manhattan federal jury decided the partial verdict on Monday and is still deliberating eight other counts. Cole was arrested by federal prosecutors in 2019 and charged with exaggerating revenue and earnings for Iconix. The company’s former COO Seth Horowitz was also named in a separate charge. The allegations pertaining to both former executives were related to fraud, as per federal prosecutors. According to allegations, Cole and Horowitz “devised a fraudulent scheme to create fictitious revenue” and misrepresented the company’s net income by hundreds of millions of dollars between 2013 and Q3 of 2015. This allowed the company to meet or meet or beat Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimates in the Q2 and Q3 of 2014. Iconix licenses brands to leading retailers and manufacturers around the world. The company owns Starter, Candie’s, London Fog, Umbro, Zoo York, Ocean Pacific and other brands. This year, Lancer took the company private in an all-cash deal for $3.15 a share, which totals $585 million including debt. The SEC began investigating Iconix in 2015. Cole served as founder, chairman & CEO of the company until

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