“No One Wins When The Family Feuds”

Following reported disputes and a lawsuit, Greenwood and The Gathering Spot have announced that they are resolving their outstanding issues as they continue to uplift Black and minority communities.

What happened?

Last May, The Gathering Spot, a private membership network focused on the Black community, was acquired by Greenwood, a digital banking platform. 

However, earlier this month, there were reported disputes between the two companies, including reports of a lawsuit filed by The Gathering Spot co-founders Ryan Wilson and T’Keel (TK) Petersen against Greenwood co-founder and CEO Ryan Glover and board member Dr Paul Judge for fraud and deception.

The Gathering Spot also came under scrutiny in May 2022 when TK Petersen exited the company, with speculation that he had been fired. 

People immediately were disappointed with the alleged decision, including Van Lathan Jr, a founding The Gathering Spot LA member, who took to Twitter to express his feelings.

“I’m a founding member of The Gathering Spot LA. I love it there, and I am there all the time. Having said that, if TGS isn’t committed to having Black people in key leadership positions, I’m not sure I see the point,” he wrote.

Reaching a resolution

On July 24, Ryan Glover and Ryan Wilson announced that they had resolved their disputes.

“No one wins when the family feuds. We apologize for distracting our communities over the last week as this became a topic of so much public discussion,” they said.

“As we work together to build for our community and customers, we will continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards.”

The announcement also stated that The Gathering Spot would continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Greenwood under the leadership of its co-founders, Wilson and Petersen.

Together, they will aim to continue to deliver features, including community building, personal finance content, and banking services.

What are people saying?

According to AfroTech, the public has mixed opinions on the matter.

One user wrote under the post, “It feels like ChatGPT wrote this… I’m trying to reserve my deeper thoughts about this situation, but come on now.”

“We need the video version of TK Petersen and Ryan Wilson stating that all is good in the neighborhood because this reads like a mystery movie that is still unsolved,” another said.

Along with the announcement, The Gathering Spot and Greenwood are taking action to address their community and their questions following the dispute.

The Gathering Spot members, Greenwood account holders, press, and media have been invited to their community audio town hall to discuss.