3 min read
Sources:
press and public records, Kevin's account, Form 1-A, his own videos
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Short answer
Both columns are in the filings. In: $6 million of the company’s 5% bonds on the same terms as other investors, $5 million of it in the first tranche; a $3.5 million advance in September 2022, repaid within weeks; his aircraft for company travel from January 2023 to October 2025 with nothing billed; payroll for the first ten or eleven staff paid personally in the startup year; no salary until January 2025; and the wedge-finder software, contributed for 269,000 shares at a zero basis. His million voting shares, however, were issued against a $1 million note, of which he paid $75,000 in cash and $172,751 in expenses he had advanced; the $752,249 balance plus interest was forgiven by the company in 2024. Out: a salary of about $300,000 since 2025, office rent of $6,000 a month since 2023, $1.6 million for a building he sold the company below appraisal, and the 5% interest on his own bonds. 123456
Bonds bought: $6M (5%, same terms as everyone)
Advanced in 2022: $3.5M (repaid within weeks)
Aircraft, 2023 to 2025: $0 billed (to the company)
Voting shares: $1M note ($247,751 paid or offset; $820,517 forgiven with interest in 2024)
Salary: ~$300,000 (since January 2025)
Rent to him: $6,000 a month (since July 2023)
The ledger
Direction | Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
In | Convertible bonds, 5%, same terms as other investors | $6,000,000 ($5,000,000 in the first tranche) | 2025 offering cover; 2026 circular |
In | Advance to the company, September 2022 | $3,500,000, repaid shortly after | June 2023 report |
In | Aircraft for company travel, January 2023 to October 2025 | Nothing billed to the company | 2026 circular |
In | Payroll for the first staff, paid personally | Not quantified | January 2023 video |
In | Salary foregone, June 2022 to January 2025 | None taken | 2026 circular |
In | Wedge-finder software and IP, October 2022 | 269,000 non-voting shares, carried at $0 | June 2023 report |
Mixed | 1,000,000 voting shares against a $1,000,000 note | $75,000 paid; $172,751 of advanced costs offset; $752,249 plus $68,268 interest forgiven in 2024 | June 2023 and June 2025 reports |
Out | Cash bonus for 2024 | $290,000, on a $1.00 salary | 2024 annual report |
Out | Salary since January 27, 2025 | $302,354 in 2025, plus benefits | 2025 annual report |
Out | Office rent, July 2023 to October 2025 | $6,000 a month | June 2025 and 2025 annual reports |
Out | Sale of an apartment building to the company, September 2024 | $1,600,000, below the average of three appraisals | June 2025 report |
Out | Interest on his bonds | 5% a year, about $300,000 on $6,000,000 | bond terms |
The note, in plain terms
The company was formed with Kevin as its only voting shareholder. Those 1,000,000 shares were paid for with a promissory note, not cash: $1,000,000, no interest at first, due September 30, 2023, later amended to 4.55% with recourse to his personal assets. He paid $75,000 and was credited $172,751 for organization costs he had advanced. In 2024 the company forgave the remaining $752,249 and $68,268 of interest, and expensed $820,517. The filings add that because he controls all the voting stock, any recourse on the note could be eliminated unilaterally, which is what happened. 12
The 2024 placement
The 2025 bond offering cover shows that of the 267,047 make-up shares issued in October 2024 to reset the $2.00 placement to $1.00, 212,122 went to a director, officer, promoter or principal holder, which means an insider had invested roughly $424,000 in that round; the filings do not say who. 5
How to read the two columns
Nothing on the out side came without an asset, a service or a coupon in exchange, and each was disclosed: the building was sold below appraisal, the rent is at a stated rate, the salary began after two and a half years without one, the bond interest is the same 5% every holder gets. The forgiven note is the exception, a benefit with nothing in return, though no cash changed hands: the company gave up collecting on shares he already held, and booked it as compensation. It is the item a skeptic would raise first, together with the $290,000 bonus paid for 2024, the year before salaries began. The offset is on the in side: $6 million of bonds, a $3.5 million bridge loan, three years of a jet and the first year of payroll. His account of the aircraft alone is that it cost him potentially $10 million to own over the period.
Kevin’s account
I have $6 million of my own money in the company’s bonds, same terms as everyone. 3
What the annual reports add
The note, in the company’s words: as founder he chose to pay for shares he could have issued to himself for nothing, and bought all 1,000,000 voting shares at $1.00 through a promissory note, later reduced for his capital contributions and reimbursements; on December 27, 2024 the board forgave the $820,517 balance, and the company did not issue cash proceeds to him under the note. So no cash went to him from the IOU; what he received was release from a debt for shares he already held, which the 2024 report counts as compensation of $821,868.54. The same report shows a $290,000 cash bonus for 2024, which belongs in the out column. And the 2025 report confirms the bonds: $5,000,000 in the first tranche and a separate, additional $1,000,000. The office lease from his entity ran from July 2023 through October 2025. 78
He put in bonds, a bridge loan, a plane, a year of payroll and free software; the company put in a forgiven note for his voting stock. What has come back is a 2024 bonus, a salary since 2025, two years of rent, one below-appraisal property sale and bond coupons, all disclosed; the IOU itself never paid him cash. 1245
Simply put
✅ What he put in
➡️ $6 million into the bonds, same deal as any investor.
➡️ Lent the company $3.5 million at the start. Paid back fast.
➡️ Flew it around the country for three years and billed nothing.
➡️ Paid the early staff himself. Took no salary for two and a half years.
✅ The one that cuts the other way
➡️ His voting shares were bought with a $1 million IOU. He paid about a quarter of it. The company forgave the rest in 2024 and counted it as pay. No cash ever went to him from the IOU.
➡️ The board also paid him a $290,000 bonus for 2024, the year before salaries started.
✅ What has come back
➡️ $300,000 a year in salary since 2025. $6,000 a month in office rent. $1.6 million for a building, priced under three appraisals. 5% a year on his bonds.
Sources
Form 1-SA for the six months ended June 30, 2023, Note 6, related party transactions: the $1,000,000 note for 1,000,000 voting shares, $75,000 paid and $172,751 of organization costs offset; the $3,500,000 advance repaid; 269,000 shares for software at a zero basis Open
Form 1-SA for the six months ended June 30, 2025, Note 7: the $752,249 balance and $68,268 of interest forgiven in 2024, $820,517 expensed; the $6,000 monthly office lease; the September 2024 purchase of a building from Kevin for $1,600,000 below the average of three appraisals Open
Kevin's account, How the YouTube business fits: “I have $6 million of my own money in the company's bonds, same terms as everyone” Read the excerpt
Form 1-A, Employment Arrangements (no salary before January 27, 2025; aircraft provided without reimbursement January 2023 through October 31, 2025; $6,000,000 of bonds held) Open the filing
Form 1-A/A, bond offering statement, filed March 10, 2025 (cover data), Item 6: 500 of the first 1,084 bonds, $5,000,000, to a director, officer or principal holder; 212,122 of 267,047 make-up shares to a director, officer, promoter or principal holder Open
Kevin on YouTube, "Portfolio Reveal | Is HouseHack Paying for Meet Kevin's Jet" (2023-01-29), at 11:22: “we have 4 plus 2, 6, 10 to 11 staff, basically all of that staff is being paid for by Kevin Paffrath, Kevin Paffrath is paying a boatload of payroll this year” Watch from 11:22
Form 1-K, annual report for 2025, filed April 30, 2026, Item 4, the promissory note ("The Company did not issue cash proceeds to the founder under this note"); the bond purchases Open
Form 1-K, annual report for 2024, filed April 30, 2025, Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers, footnotes 1 and 2 Open
