A hedge fund boss has filed for bankruptcy after allegedly splashing out $370,000 on a collection of American Express cards, it has emerged.
Jason Ader, 57, filed a Chapter 11 petition for his company 26 Capital Acquisition Corp in July, according to court filings reviewed by Daily Mail.
The firm reported owing debts between $10 million and $50 million to a slew of creditors, including lawyers, accountants, translators, tax officials and PR firms.
Two of Ader’s other companies are also listed as being owed $14 million.
American Express has now filed a lawsuit against Ader over his alleged unpaid credit card balances, The New York Post reported.
Ader allegedly racked up $370,000 across his Amex Black card, Delta Sky Miles card and two Platinum accounts.
The hedge fund boss used his Amex credit cards to fund his luxurious lifestyle, according to Amex’s complaint which was reviewed by the Post.
Amex cited Ader’s alleged lavish spending, including how he dropped $9,000 at a Christian Dior boutique while vacationing in Monaco in August last year.
Ader’s apparent financial struggles come after his millionaire mother Pamela Ader sued him in August 2024 over his alleged unpaid debts.
She claimed Ader defaulted on a $13 million mortgage that he took out against his late father Richard’s townhouse in Manhattan’s desirable Upper East Side neighborhood.
She alleges her son failed to keep up with mortgage payments and left Richard’s estate responsible for the loan, interest and unpaid taxes.
Richard died in September 2023 aged 81. Pamela’s lawsuit fails to state how much the estate is worth, but Richard’s company US Realty Advisors manages a reported $18 billion of assets nationwide.
Pamela’s case against her son remains ongoing.
Ader and his wife Hana reportedly visited Monaco, a lavish billionaire’s enclave in the French Riviera, in August last year – the same month his mother filed the lawsuit.
Photos posted on his now-private Instagram show the couple together at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, a prestigious members-only sports club.
They also attended the Olympic beach volleyball tournament in Paris that same month.
Ader, however, claims he has ‘no record of receiving service’ from Amex and told the Post he had been unaware of the banking firm’s lawsuit.
‘This is a routine commercial matter, and if valid, will be addressed through the proper legal channels. To be clear: there is no judgment, and no indication of wrongdoing,’ he said in a statement to the newspaper.
Ader’s bankruptcy filing, which lists him as the sole director of 26 Capital Acquisition Corp, includes a list of reported assets between $1 million and $10 million.
The bankruptcy petition lists the firm’s biggest creditors as 26 Capital Holdings LLC, SpringOwl Asset Management LLC, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.
The company reportedly owes the creditors $11.8 million, $2.35 million and $1.87 million respectively, the filing shows. Seventeen other creditors are named in the filing, but American Express is not among them.
‘Throughout this process, I took extreme care to ensure that not a single public shareholder lost any money. In fact, over $275 million in trust proceeds were returned,’ Ader told the Post of his Chapter 11 petition.
‘SpringOwl and its affiliates are listed as creditors because they provided loans and services to 26 Capital. Those claims, along with certain disputed invoices, are being addressed transparently and lawfully through the bankruptcy process.’
A bankruptcy judge last month appointed a trustee to handle Ader’s debts, stripping him of financial control.
‘The American Express matter is a corporate dispute that is stayed in that case, and there is no judgment against me,’ Ader said in a statement to Daily Mail.
The statement read, in part: ‘Importantly, 26 Capital’s public shareholders received about $10.95 per share upon liquidation, while most SPACs from that period lost 60% or more. Family disputes over real estate and sensational tabloid framing don’t change those facts — investors were protected, and I remain focused on my work.’