Cava Founders, Board Hit With $2.2 Billion Insider Trading Case

Cava Group Inc.'s founders and financial backers dumped billions of dollars in stock at prices inflated by hype about the company’s supposedly soaring trajectory, an unsealed lawsuit said Tuesday. A pension fund hit Cava’s corporate leaders with insider trading claims, saying they helped affiliates of the Belgian billionaire Eric Wittouck unload shares worth nearly $1.8 billion while selling the public a bogus narrative about accelerating growth. Two of Cava’s directors are linked to Invus Group LLC, a New York firm that manages investments for Artal Group SA, a Wittouck family holding company, according to the Delaware Chancery Court filing. Invus, Artal, and Wittouck — part of an industrial dynasty with roots in Belgium’s nobility that made its fortune in sugar — aren’t named as defendants. Members of Cava’s board and management allegedly sold nearly $500 million in stock between August 2024 and March 2025, a figure that includes roughly $330 million in sales by trusts affiliated with co-founder Ronald Shaich, a billionaire who previously started Au Bon Pain Inc. and Panera Bread Co. “While the defendants reaped more than $2 billion of profits, stockholders were left holding the proverbial bag,” the suit says.