Charlie Javice is an entrepreneur known for founding Frank, a company that aimed to simplify the process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for college students seeking financial aid. Javice founded Frank in 2017 to help students apply for financial aid more easily. The company operated under the name TAPD Inc. but was better known as Frank.
Javice’s entrepreneurial journey took a dramatic turn in 2021 when she sold Frank to JPMorgan Chase for $175 million and took up a managing director role at JPMorgan. Her tenure at JPMorgan was short-lived, as she faced suspension in September 2022 following a lawsuit by her employer, and was terminated for cause in November 2022. The lawsuit filed by JPMorgan alleged that the data reported by Frank was largely fabricated. It was claimed that Javice paid a data science professor $18,000 to create a list of over four million fake student names to convince JPMorgan to purchase Frank. Javice countersued JPMorgan, claiming she was being scapegoated for their own faulty due diligence.
In May 2023, Javice pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co, which included allegations of misrepresenting her company’s customer base and inflating numbers to facilitate the sale of Frank for $175 million in 2021. Specifically, she was accused of claiming that Frank had 4.25 million student customers, whereas the actual number was closer to 300,000. She entered her plea to charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy during a video appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Manhattan.
Javice has been set free on $2 million bail since her initial court appearance in April 2023. A grand jury indicted her on May 18 2023, following discussions between federal prosecutors and her defense lawyers regarding a possible disposition of the case, a term that sometimes indicates a potential guilty plea. Her trial is scheduled for October 2024.
JPMorgan Chase closed Frank in January and labelled the acquisition a “huge mistake” by its CEO, Jamie Dimon.
Timeline Of Events
- 2013
- Charlie Javice graduates from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
- 2017
- Javice founds Frank (TAPD Inc.) to simplify the FAFSA process.
- Frank is accused by the U.S. Department of Education of misleading customers, leading to changes in its operations.
- 2021
- Sells Frank to JPMorgan Chase for $175 million; joins JPMorgan as a managing director.
- September 2022
- Faces suspension from JPMorgan due to a lawsuit.
- November 2022
- Terminated from JPMorgan for cause.
- April 2023
- Javice’s initial court appearance; released on $2 million bail.
- May 2023
- Pleads not guilty to fraud charges; indicted by a grand jury on May 18.
- January 2023
- JPMorgan Chase shuts down Frank, with CEO Jamie Dimon calling the acquisition a “huge mistake.”
- October 2024
- Scheduled trial date for Javice.
About Charlie Javice
Charlie Javice was born on March 14, 1993. She grew up in Mamaroneck, Westchester County, New York. Javice attended the French-American School of New York (FASNY), where the atmosphere was described as success at any cost. She later graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 after three years, with a bachelor’s degree in finance and legal studies.
In 2017, at the age of 24, Javice founded TAPD Inc., which operated under the name Frank. The idea for Frank reportedly stemmed from her own experiences and frustrations with the financial aid system. However, Frank faced early challenges; in 2017, the U.S. Department of Education accused the company of misleading customers into believing it was affiliated with the government, resulting in a forced change of the company’s website and a settlement in 2018.