When high-fashion ad agency Lipman ran out of cash and abruptly closed its doors last month, former Rangers standout Sean Avery, a senior staffer, was stiffed for $229,167, court papers show.
The company, which employed the talents of Kate Moss and Mario Testino, among others, had debts totalling $8.6 million and gross income of just $116,000 between March 2011 and August 2013, courts papers, filed in Manhattan bankruptcy court reveal.
The agency was owned by Revolate, a failed brand marketing holding company that had stakes in a number of ventures in addition to the West 14th Street-based Lipman.
Fashion photographer and agency Chairman David Lipman, who flipped his family run ad agency into a minority stake in the larger Revolate, was paid $850,000 a year, the largest Lipman salary, court papers show.
Revolate Chief Operating Officer Michael Mendenhall has a base salary of $800,000 — with an added bonus of $147,000.
Mendenhall, a former Disney and HP marketing executive, is owed some $900,000, papers show.
Andrew Spellman, the CEO of both Lipman and Revolate, earned a base salary of $650,000. He was one of three with oversight of the firm’s financials.
The closing of Lipman surprised many on Madison Avenue.
Financial troubles at Revolate, run by Spellman, a 36-year-old former Goldman Sachs banker, led to the closing, sources said.
While court papers list $900,000 in assets, Lipman owes more than $4 million in secured claims, which will make it difficult for Avery to collect what he is owed.
David Lipman is owned $2.3 million, court papers show.