My startup has a few different "arms". I was underwhelmed by the peformance of one of these arms and a few weeks ago announced we'd be getting rid of it, including the contractors working in this arm. The whole process would take a few months and hopefully everyone could leave happily.
The head manager of this arm was understandably upset, as it is basically his livelihood. As a nice gesture, I offered to give him the Stripe account (with the recurring plans, customers, etc.) once he set up an LLC + EIN and bank account so we could do an official "transfer of ownership".
He told me the process to get everything set up would take a while, and in the meantime wanted to be made owner of the Stripe account so he could "sleep better". I naively transfered ownership to him, again wanting to be nice, and at this point not really understanding the full ramifications of this.
Immediately after transfering ownership of the Stripe account to this contractor I was kicked off as an administrator and they ceased all contact with me, essentially disappearing.
At first I thought that was just weird. Then I realized my LLC was still connected to the account, and there were possible tax implications for me if they continued to process payments "as" my company while diverting the funds elsewhere. Not to mention the risk of them taking out loans via Stripe Capital, etc.
I've talked to Stripe support all week and all they can tell me is to get a court order to regain control of the account or get my LLC information removed from the account. I don't really know what this entails besides what ChatGPT has told me, but it sounds expensive and I don't have much money.
I don't even care about regaining control of the Stripe account, just severing all official ties between my LLC and the account, so they can't incur financial liabilities in my name.
What should I do? I've thought about dissolving the LLC, but that can take a while and I'm worried what they'll do during that time. Any help or insight is appreciated.