Zambrero billionaire sues former CEO to stop him taking credit

Zambrero, where Dr Prince remains the controlling shareholder with a stake of some 70 per cent, has accused Mr Cook of taking credit for the expansion in media interviews and industry podcasts, as well as a funding document produced by one of his businesses.

“Mr Cook ... [made] a statement in an ... investor webinar in November 2022 that he took Zambrero from two restaurants to 100 restaurants,” the filings read, alleging that those statements were “false” as well as “misleading or deceptive”. Mr Cook now runs single-family office and advisory firm TWIYO – The World Is Your Oyster.

“Mr Cook ... did not lead a global expansion of the Zambrero business that was profitable internationally, within six years or at all,” the company has alleged.

Zambrero alleges that in discussing his role in its expansion, Mr Cook was minimising the efforts of Dr Prince and Karim Messih, another former chief executive.

“[Mr Cook] was not primarily responsible for the success and expansion of the Zambrero business during the relevant period ... Dr Prince and Mr Messih ... were primarily responsible for the success of Zambrero,” it alleges.

The company has also accused Mr Cook of publicly disclosing “the circumstances in which he left Zambrero and the terms on which his shares in the Zambrero group were re-purchased”, allegedly breaking a deal he made with the company.

Mr Cook has been complimentary of Zambrero and his time there in public comments. In one podcast, Mr Cook said that, as a child of teachers, working at Zambrero was an “amazing opportunity”, and he built the company “together” with Dr Prince. Mr Cook said the shares had been given to him as an incentive as he was not paid “very much”.

“It was a great tool to incentivise me to work really hard … I was the only person who received equity in Zambrero, it wasn’t something that was extended to any of the executive team as we grew and that was a decision made by Sam,” he said then.

Zambrero said it wanted Mr Cook and his wife and current business partner Samantha “permanently restrained” from making statements about his role at the company via an injunction. “Zambrero Australia is concerned that unless Mr Cook and Mrs Cook are permanently restrained from doing so by the Court, Mr Cook will continue to make statements in breach of the agreement.”

Mr Cook has yet to file a defence, although his lawyer, Thomson Geer partner Marlia Saunders, said: “Our clients deny the allegations and intend to defend the proceedings.”

After Mr Cook left, Mr Prince’s company became the sole owner of Zambrero. In 2022, Skip Capital, the family office of Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson, and European private capital player Metric Capital Partners took a stake.