Same thing happened with Sam Altman and Loopt. A Sequoia VC who put money into Loopt pulled strings to get Green Dot to acquire it, allowing Altman and his supporters (chiefly PG) to claim it to be a success:

> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3684357

Altman went on to become YC President, and has publicly toyed with the idea of running for Governor. Graham has even insinuated that Altman should be PotUS