Artesian Builds files for bankruptcy with an estimated $1.3M in unfulfilled orders

pcgamer.com:

Last Friday, defunct custom PC maker Artesian Builds filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in California with over $3 million in liabilities on its balance sheet, including $1.37 million in unfulfilled orders. Its court-appointed restructuring officer is now seeking buyers for the company's assets, which include an estimated $917,595 worth of inventory.

Artesian Builds collapsed dramatically in March of this year, suddenly shutting down its operations on March 8 and laying off around 50 employees in California and North Carolina. Artesian's insolvency was apparently triggered by a wave of refunds following a controversial raffle livestreamed by the company's CEO and owner Noah Katz, but two ex-employees who spoke to PC Gamer under the condition of anonymity said it was Katz's long-term mismanagement that put the company in such a precarious position to begin with. 

Another ex-employee had a more positive view of Katz and hoped the company would survive, but said that Katz was inexperienced as a CEO, and had admitted as much himself. All three ex-employees said that Katz had already been looking for new investors before the controversial livestream.

According to Artesian financial documents included in the bankruptcy filing, the company's debt includes over $450,000 owed to two PC components distributors, over $200,000 in credit card debt, a $1,200,000 family loan, accrued paid time off for ex-employees (they did get their final paychecks, though), and $1.37 million in deferred revenue from unfulfilled orders. 

In the now stripped-down Artesian Builds Discord server, a few customers have said they managed to get their money back by requesting chargebacks from their credit card companies, but the number of pending orders may be