Julian Hosp Offers the Whole Cake to U-Zyn Chua

Cake Group (bake.io) co-founder and CEO Julian Hosp has offered his fellow co-founder U-Zyn Chua an opportunity to buy over the entire company.

Chua, who served as the firm's CTO, filed to wind down the company in November 2023. The application was heard before the Singapore High Court on Friday, 22 December 2023, one month after a layoff involving 30% of staff at the firm. Chua said that Hosp had kept him out of the loop and unilaterally carried out the cuts.

Hosp responded to Chua's wind-up application, stating, "While it is regrettable that such internal disagreements have been brought into the public domain, we are working with all stakeholders to resolve this dispute expeditiously."

The Cake Group CEO claimed that Chua's application was not a result of financial concerns at the firm.

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"The Winding Up Application has NOT been brought on the grounds that Cake Group Pte Ltd is unable to pay its debts," Hosp said. "In this respect, our day-to-day operations remain unaffected and we continue to operate at full capacity to deliver our products and services."

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This move comes shortly after the company announced a significant staff reduction in mid-November, signaling financial and operational challenges.

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A new deal has since surfaced at a court hearing in Singapore in which Chua would buy out Hosp's interest in the company.

"In a surprise turn of events, 1 business day before the court hearing yesterday, Julian Hosp made an offer for me to buy over the entirety of his wife and his Cake Group shares, thereby allowing them both to exit Cake Group," Chua tweeted.

"Even though the offer came outside of the usual document submission window for court proceedings, I am putting in serious consideration in taking up the offer by Julian."

It marks the first tweet U-Zyn has issued on X since denying Hosp's posts back in December when he wrote, "Cake is my baby and it has been tough for me. There are disputes between him and I regarding the conduct of company's affairs that could not be constructively resolved internally. As these matters are now before the court, it is inappropriate for me to comment more at this time."

Hosp meanwhile tweeted, "I was ready to go; he asked to pause. Today resulted in an adjournment. I was once taught that what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander, and fair is fair."

"Don’t get distracted by empty bullets - they are loud, but nothing else. Let's see. As always, I believe in Cake Group & DeFiChain and want them to succeed in every way."

He followed up that message with another tweet, stating "At yesterday’s court hearing, no journalists were present. I won’t comment on the proceedings, as I am not allowed to."

Cake Group was founded in 2019 along with John Rost and Howard Fineman. Last week, a settlement was reached with Rost which saw him issuing an apology statement to Chua, Hosp, and his wife.

"In the heat of the moment, I made certain negative statements about the Cake Group, DeFiChain and its community, Mr U-Zyn Chua, Dr Julian Hosp and his wife Mrs Bettina Hosp," Rost said.

"I regret making these statements, which I now retract," he added. "I regret that statements concerning Dr Julian Hosp's character, integrity, and personal life were made."

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