Foundation Future Industries, a San Francisco-based maker of military humanoid robots advised and backed by Eric Trump, failed to pay employees after missing payroll on October 30, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Workers have yet to receive paychecks, the people said, requesting anonymity to speak about the private company.
The situation has drawn internal frustration because CEO and co-founder Sankaet Pathak borrowed $4.6 million from the company last year to buy a luxury home in Sausalito, California, money that could have been used to pay workers. Public records show an LLC naming Pathak as sole principal purchased the $4.6 million property in October 2025. Pathak acknowledged receiving details from this story on Thursday but did not respond to requests for comment. He previously founded Synapse, a fintech firm that collapsed in 2024 and left thousands of Americans locked out of their savings accounts.
The payroll miss comes as Pathak seeks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at a $3 billion valuation. The company has claimed it won $24 million in Pentagon contracts, though it actually acquired those contracts through purchasing Florida-based Boardwalk Robotics in late 2024, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Foundation's deal for Boardwalk included performance milestones that have not been reached, said another person with direct knowledge. Pathak has claimed his company is close to unveiling a next-generation, weapons-ready robot to help the U.S. compete against Chinese rivals. In April, he said the robot would be "the strongest humanoid robot that exists anywhere in the world, including China."
Eric Trump was introduced in April as a Foundation investor and chief strategy advisor, though his exact stake remains unclear. Eric Trump and his brother Donald Trump Jr. have invested in multiple defense firms. A July Washington Post investigation found that startups backed by investment vehicles linked to the brothers had secured at least $3.2 billion in government business. Eric Trump's spokesperson told the Financial Times that he had "no involvement in Foundation's management, operations, strategic decisions or commercial activities, including the solicitation, negotiation, procurement or execution of any government contracts." Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned whether Foundation won contracts because of nepotism.
Pathak is Foundation's sole board member and owns most shares, a governance structure that has concerned prospective investors. That setup allowed him to borrow the $4.6 million last year, which he termed a short-term loan, according to the people. Foundation also ran out of cash for payroll in August, though employees waited about two days for payment after the company secured a bridge loan from an existing investor. Pathak told employees this week he was working to source money to pay back wages. Insiders worry Foundation could fold if Pathak doesn't secure fresh funding.
For savers, borrowers and business owners in the United States, this illustrates risks when startups with weak governance structures obtain large government contracts and investor funds, particularly when leadership has a history of previous failures affecting customer deposits. Foundation was founded in April 2024 by Pathak, Tribe Capital CEO Arjun Sethi and Mike LeBlanc, co-founder of Cobalt Robotics. The company has hired dozens of robotics engineers and AI experts from Tesla and Amazon-owned Zoox. In 2024, CNBC reported that Pathak sent letters to prospective investors citing an imminent investment and $300 million purchase order from General Motors, claims the automaker rejected. Co-founder LeBlanc said he was "embarrassed" about those marketing materials.