A tech firm that employs Princess Beatrice was forced into bankruptcy proceedings at the back end of last year, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Afiniti, which was founded in 2005 and provides artificial intelligence software to call centres, filed for bankruptcy in the US two months ago as the firm struggled under a mountain of debt. Papers show that the company had £472 million in liabilities.
Key lenders were forced to step in to support the company and the debt was successfully restructured last month. But the news is an embarrassment for the princess just before she attends the World Economic Forum in Davos alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The difficulties at Afiniti also put the spotlight on Prince Harry’s best pal Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, who is president at the company.
Eton-educated Inskip joined the firm in 2013 and also sits on the board.
High profile former employees include ex-Prime Minister Lord Cameron, who resigned from the company’s advisory board in 2021, and former BP boss Lord Browne.
Royal appointment: Princess Beatrice is employed as vice president of strategy at Afiniti
At Davos, the Princess will talk on a panel exploring how private capital can be used to tackle climate change. She is employed as vice president of strategy and partnerships at Afiniti, where she also has an ambassadorial role promoting women in business.
In November, Princess Beatrice spoke about artificial intelligence at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, where she said that the UK’s contribution to the artificial intelligence revolution was ‘great talent, great individuals’.
It followed her trip to Saudi Arabia for the Future Investment Initiative the previous month.
The bankruptcy proceedings are the latest in a string of controversies for the firm, which just two years ago was tipped for a blockbuster flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.
That would have given Princess Beatrice and Inskip a considerable payday, as they are understood to own minority stakes in the business.
But the plans were scrapped when, in 2022, Afiniti’s founder and chief executive Zia Chishti quit after a former employee, Tatiana Spottiswoode, accused him of grooming her and then beating her during sex.
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