Israeli tech entrepreneur Moshe Yanai, 71, denied insolvency claims on Sunday, asserting that he holds significant assets through his investment firm, MII.
According to a U.S. court ruling, MII’s portfolio is valued at approximately $1.1 billion — or several hundred million dollars at a minimum.
Yanai made the argument in a request to halt legal proceedings, filed Sunday with the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, in response to a bankruptcy petition by the investment fund Scintilla. The fund claims Yanai defaulted on loans totaling $36 million.
MII, jointly owned by Yanai and his wife Rachel, manages investments in multiple technology firms. Court documents list its assets as including Israeli data storage company Infinidat, which raised $350 million and was recently acquired by China’s Lenovo for an undisclosed sum; shares in trading platform eToro, from which Yanai recently sold stock worth $17 million; cybersecurity firm KoolSpan, which provides services to the U.S. Department of Defense; Yokneam-based laser sensor company Maradin and biotech startup Quris, which uses AI for drug development.
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Yanai’s filings read that as of December 2024, MII had invested over $222 million in a portfolio of 15 companies, most of them in Israel. Among them, MII invested $51 million in Infinidat and holds a 51% stake. Yanai also disclosed that KoolSpan and Maradin are preparing for IPOs, while Arineta is in talks for a sale or merger.
Additional court documents show that Yanai and his wife own real estate in Boston and a luxury Manhattan apartment valued at approximately $7.5 million, based on mortgage records.
In his response to the court, Yanai dismissed Scintill's allegations — led by managing partner Tzachi Keinan — as baseless, calling them part of an aggressive attempt to seize his assets. “After Scintilla failed in its enforcement efforts in the U.S. and was blocked by a Massachusetts court, it is now trying a different legal strategy in Israel,” he argued.
Yanai cited a U.S. court ruling saying that “MII holds more than sufficient collateral. The plaintiffs [Yanai and MII] provided evidence that MII’s investment portfolio exceeds $1 billion. Even if Scintilla believes this valuation is inflated, available data suggests the Yanais’ ownership is worth at least several hundred million dollars — several times the amount MII currently owes the fund.”
Yanai further alleged that Scintilla's move in Israel was an illegitimate attempt to take over his business. “As part of this effort,” he wrote, “Scintilla initiated foreclosure proceedings on collateral it was given — my wife’s and my shares in MII — putting them up for auction. This was followed by my ousting in January as MII’s director and my replacement with a Scintilla-appointed representative, Boaz Toshav.”
He denied allegations of asset concealment, stating, “The assets mentioned in the petition belong to MII, not me, and were never ‘hidden.’” He also noted that he had informed Scintilla that MII could repay its debt using an alternative lender.