Michael Klein

Misra introduced Benedetti to Michael Klein (M. Klein & Co.) in June 2017; trio met at Hotel Baur au Lac, Zurich, Nov 2017; Klein subsequently received ~$6M in fees from SoftBank — most plausible 'follow-on payment' vehicle worth scrutinizing

Per WSJ Feb 27 2020 (Hope/Scheck), Misra introduced Benedetti to Michael Klein in June 2017 with the message 'I want to introduce you to mr. benedetti as a partner.' The three met at the Hotel Baur au Lac, Zurich in November 2017. Misra urged Klein to hire Benedetti for M. Klein & Co. Europe; Klein declined. M. Klein & Co. spokeswoman: 'M. Klein & Co. has never had any business relationship or financial dealings with Alessandro Benedetti.' Klein did, however, receive approximately $6M in advisory fees from SoftBank in this period. This is the most plausible 'follow-on payment' vehicle worth investigating: Benedetti expected millions more after the initial $500K Standard Chartered → Barkmere transfer of April 2015, none of which has been documented. The Klein $6M referral pattern raises the question whether SoftBank-paid M&A advisory fees were used to camouflage operational-debt settlements with Benedetti's network. Klein appeared on the FII 2018 Riyadh speakers list alongside Misra (EFTA02603142, Aug 12 2018) — placing them together at Saudi PIF's flagship event 6 months after the Klein-Benedetti introduction.

Michael Klein holds 500,000 Oklo shares via M. Klein Associates Inc. (212,920 shares) and Allies Capital Corp. (287,100 shares). Klein is controlling stockholder of M. Klein Associates and sole stockholder of Allies Capital Corp.

From DEF 14A filed April 22, 2025. Klein and Altman both waived all director compensation (cash and equity) under the Non-Employee Director Compensation Program adopted at the May 2024 merger closing.

Epstein complained to Larry Summers on May 28, 2017 that 'michael klein decided to try to attack me. wasn't smart or necessary. used our friendship as a source.' Summers responded 'Did Klein do it again? Agree bad business.' This confirms Epstein and Klein had a prior friendship/relationship and Klein had done something adversarial, possibly more than once.

Klein-affiliated Archimedes Advisor Group LLC ran AltC's target sourcing for the Oklo combination.

Final S-4/A (filed 2024-04-15, accession 0001104659-24-047344) discloses Archimedes Advisor Group LLC as 'AltC's strategic advisor and affiliate of Michael Klein, Chairman of the Board of AltC' commenced focused search 2021-2022 for combination targets. AltC IPO 2021-07-12 raised $500M. AltC Sponsor LLC and 'Insiders' (Sam Altman, Michael Klein, Jay Taragin, Frances Frei, Allison Green, Peter Lattman, John L. Thornton) were identified as having interests differing from public stockholders. M. Klein and Company is the related strategic advisory firm Klein founded in 2012.

STRUCTURAL Michael Klein (M. Klein & Co) is undisclosed bridge connecting AI-infrastructure SPAC ecosystem (Sam Altman AltC/Oklo) to SoftBank advisory (Misra 6M USD fees) to Epstein old social network (pre-existing friendship per Epstein-Summers complaint May 2017) to SoftBank-caper recruitment ring (Benedetti June 2017 introduction at Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich)

Graph: deg=3 brk=0.00 (low brokerage because immediate triangle is closed) but DEG-WEIGHTED-BY-CLUSTER-SPAN this node is exceptional — its 3 connections each anchor a distinct mega-cluster: (1) AltC Sponsor LLC + Sam Altman = AI infrastructure SPAC nexus (Oklo small-modular-reactor merger), (2) Misra = SoftBank Vision Fund (6M USD advisory fees during Misra tenure), (3) Benedetti = SoftBank-caper UK dirty-tricks ring + (4) Epstein = social/old-guard cluster (Klein on FInd-list per Epstein-Summers May 2017 complaint). Klein chairs/CEO'd AltC Acquisition Corp 2021-2023 which merged with Oklo Inc (Altman's nuclear startup). Klein's 6M USD SoftBank advisory fee during 2017-2020 OVERLAPS the Benedetti-introduction window (June 2017) AND the Boies/Hollingsworth-prep window for Independent piece (Oct 2015) AND the Bloomberg X-debt window (Jan 2025) — three separate attack-windows on SoftBank's Vision Fund-1 narrative. Klein is the FINANCIAL-ADVISORY counterpart to Weingarten's LEGAL-COUNSEL bridge: where Weingarten provides litigation infrastructure across waves, Klein provides M&A/SPAC infrastructure. The Klein-Altman-Oklo nexus (small modular reactor) sits adjacent to the Stargate/MGX/Tahnoon AI-infrastructure cluster (theme 2).

Michael Klein (Managing Partner, M Klein and Company; former Citigroup Co-CEO Banking) appeared on FII 2018 speakers list sent by Aziza Alahmadi to Epstein on Aug 12, 2018. Same list includes Rajeev Misra (CEO, SB Investment Advisers), Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, Marcelo Claure (SoftBank COO), Christian Sewing (Deutsche Bank CEO), and Lynn Forester de Rothschild. Klein and Misra were both scheduled to speak at FII Riyadh Oct 23-25, 2018.

Klein's SPAC pipeline as of 2026: Churchill Capital IX, X, XI (sponsors all affiliates of M. Klein Associates Inc, NY corp); historical: Lucid (PIF-backed, Churchill IV), Clarivate (Churchill I), MultiPlan (Churchill III, subject of Delaware Chancery breach-of-fiduciary-duty SPAC opinion).

Per Oklo 2026 DEF 14A Klein bio: 'Mr. Klein is currently the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Churchill Capital Corp IX, Churchill Capital Corp. X and Churchill Capital Corp. XI, all three (3) of which are blank check companies whose respective sponsors are affiliates of M. Klein Associates, Inc., a New York corporation (MKA).' Klein is co-founder/Chairman of original Churchill Capital Corp (2018). Churchill I -> Clarivate (May 2019). Churchill III -> MultiPlan (subject of Skadden-tracked first-impression Delaware Chancery SPAC sponsor disclosure ruling). Churchill IV -> Lucid (Saudi PIF anchor; PIF >$1B 2018 pre-SPAC commit; Saudi assembly plant promise). M. Klein and Company LLC = strategic advisory firm Klein founded 2012; advised PIF on multiple SoftBank-PIF transactions per public reporting. Klein on Trilateral Commission. Active SPAC pipeline through 2026 means Klein remains a dominant SPAC sponsor and likely vehicle for future Gulf-state-anchored US public listings.