GOP Senate candidate says he put employees first—as former workers sue
Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, the multimillionaire rhinestone-cowboy transplant from Minnesota who is taking on Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, has apparently learned everything he knows about business from Donald Trump. That includes mythologizing his origin story and allegedly shafting his employees. Take this example from a recent meet and greet in Missoula. “As a small business owner, you know, you don't balance the budget in your business, you don't get paid,” Sheehy told the gathering in audio obtained exclusively by Daily Kos. “I've been there. I've gone years without a paycheck before, when I've made sure my team gets paid first, I'll get paid later.” Nice story. But some of his former employees would dispute that. In a lawsuit filed in April, former employees John Wantulok and Weston Irr allege that Sheehy, his brother, and their companies defrauded them out of potentially millions of dollars. Wantulok and Irr were early employees in the Sheehys’ aerospace venture, Bridger Aerospace. The former workers allege that they agreed to reduced salaries, unpaid overtime, and work on weekends and holidays in return for ownership interests in the form of Class C stocks in Bridger Management, the parent company for the companies the employees worked at. The suit says they signed contracts about those shares in 2017. The suit also alleges that Tim Sheehy and his brother instructed Irr and Wantulok not to tell other employees about those stock holdings or they would lose both the stocks and their jobs. Fast forward to 2020, when the Sheehys sold Ascent Vision Technologies, a subsidiary of Bridger Management at which Irr had previously worked. The suit alleges that the employees were told they “would be required to sell their ownership interests in Bridger Management prior to the sale.” That sale brought in “roughly $350 million,” according to the suit. Then, the suit alleges, the Sheehys’ Bridger Management merged Bridger Aerospace with another company and took it public with a valuation of “roughly $860 million.” The former workers claim that these actions should have made their shares worth millions. Except one thing: Their suit alleges that Sheehy improperly forced them to accept a buyout before dissolving Bridger Management, then failed to distribute the proceeds from the sale of Ascent Vision or from Bridger Aerospace’s public offering. The former workers also claim that the Sheehys refused to provide them with accounting or ownership records. The suit says that Sheehy and his brother “never provided a legal or contractual basis for forcing Plaintiffs to sell their ownership interests in Bridger Management.” It also claims that the brothers “never provided a legal, contractual, or financial basis for the valuations of Plaintiffs’ ownership interests in Bridger Management,” and that the former workers “did not agree to the sale of their ownership interests of Bridger Management or agree to Defendants’ valuations of their ownership interests.” Bloomberg News reports that Tim Sheehy made about $75 million off selling Ascent Vision in 2020. And that same year, he purchased millions of dollars of ranch land in Montana and, with assistance, started a cattle company, HuffPost reports. Meanwhile, his company appears to be struggling, with reported losses of $77 million in 2023, though Sheehy reported earning more than $2.4 million from the company in his annual disclosure filed in June 2024. Sheehy has also not committed to divesting from Bridger Aerospace if he is elected, despite that the company nets considerable revenue from federal contracts. Instead, he said he’d put his holdings into a blind trust—something else he has in common with Trump. Screwing employees, running up huge debts, living in luxury—he’s apparently taken the gospel of Trump to heart. Daily Kos contacted the Sheehy campaign for comment but, as of publication, did not receive a response. Please donate $10 or even $20 apiece to each of these races to help Democrats keep the Senate blue in 2024! RELATED STORIES: GOP candidate with spotty résumé dares to question Jon Tester's farmer credentials The GOP has a 'candidate quality' Senate problem—again
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Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, the multimillionaire rhinestone-cowboy transplant from Minnesota who is taking on Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, has apparently learned everything he knows about business from Donald Trump. That includes mythologizing his origin story and allegedly shafting his employees.
Take this example from a recent meet and greet in Missoula.
“As a small business owner, you know, you don't balance the budget in your business, you don't get paid,” Sheehy told the gathering in audio obtained exclusively by Daily Kos. “I've been there. I've gone years without a paycheck before, when I've made sure my team gets paid first, I'll get paid later.”
Nice story. But some of his former employees would dispute that.
In a lawsuit filed in April, former employees John Wantulok and Weston Irr allege that Sheehy, his brother, and their companies defrauded them out of potentially millions of dollars.
Wantulok and Irr were early employees in the Sheehys’ aerospace venture, Bridger Aerospace. The former workers allege that they agreed to reduced salaries, unpaid overtime, and work on weekends and holidays in return for ownership interests in the form of Class C stocks in Bridger Management, the parent company for the companies the employees worked at. The suit says they signed contracts about those shares in 2017.
The suit also alleges that Tim Sheehy and his brother instructed Irr and Wantulok not to tell other employees about those stock holdings or they would lose both the stocks and their jobs.
Fast forward to 2020, when the Sheehys sold Ascent Vision Technologies, a subsidiary of Bridger Management at which Irr had previously worked. The suit alleges that the employees were told they “would be required to sell their ownership interests in Bridger Management prior to the sale.” That sale brought in “roughly $350 million,” according to the suit. Then, the suit alleges, the Sheehys’ Bridger Management merged Bridger Aerospace with another company and took it public with a valuation of “roughly $860 million.”
The former workers claim that these actions should have made their shares worth millions.
Except one thing: Their suit alleges that Sheehy improperly forced them to accept a buyout before dissolving Bridger Management, then failed to distribute the proceeds from the sale of Ascent Vision or from Bridger Aerospace’s public offering. The former workers also claim that the Sheehys refused to provide them with accounting or ownership records.
The suit says that Sheehy and his brother “never provided a legal or contractual basis for forcing Plaintiffs to sell their ownership interests in Bridger Management.” It also claims that the brothers “never provided a legal, contractual, or financial basis for the valuations of Plaintiffs’ ownership interests in Bridger Management,” and that the former workers “did not agree to the sale of their ownership interests of Bridger Management or agree to Defendants’ valuations of their ownership interests.”
Bloomberg News reports that Tim Sheehy made about $75 million off selling Ascent Vision in 2020. And that same year, he purchased millions of dollars of ranch land in Montana and, with assistance, started a cattle company, HuffPost reports.
Meanwhile, his company appears to be struggling, with reported losses of $77 million in 2023, though Sheehy reported earning more than $2.4 million from the company in his annual disclosure filed in June 2024.
Sheehy has also not committed to divesting from Bridger Aerospace if he is elected, despite that the company nets considerable revenue from federal contracts. Instead, he said he’d put his holdings into a blind trust—something else he has in common with Trump.
Screwing employees, running up huge debts, living in luxury—he’s apparently taken the gospel of Trump to heart.
Daily Kos contacted the Sheehy campaign for comment but, as of publication, did not receive a response.
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