Private Equity Founder Constantino Ran Firm in ‘Drunken Haze,’ Ex-COO Says

Five years ago, while on vacation in the Dominican Republic, private equity mogul Matthew Constantino nearly died.

The founder of Delos Capital Management went on to write a self-help book describing a near-death experience from drinking contaminated alcohol that sent him on a daily gratitude journey and doctor-assisted use of ketamine. But Delos’ former chief operating officer claimed in a lawsuit that the incident was part of a pattern of binge drinking and erratic behavior.

Delos and Constantino, a former partner at Apollo Global Management, was sued last week by former Delos COO Sanjay Sanghoee, who claimed the founder’s behavior sabotaged the middle-market private equity firm’s $275 million Fund II. Sanghoee said he was unlawfully dismissed in 2024 because he raised concerns about Constantino’s alcohol abuse and allegations that he had mistreated staff.

The complaint, dated June 3, says Constantino, who founded Delos in 2013, drank so much that he crashed regularly, arriving at investor events visibly intoxicated and needing a retired surfer as his “paid sober companion.” Sanghoee claims that this behavior “concerned and alarmed investors.”

In a statement issued by an attorney representing both Constantino and New York-based Delos, the firm said the lawsuit was without merit and that it would defend itself vigorously.

“At its core, the complaint amounts to a personal attack on an individual; it is not a legitimate claim against the firm or its operations,” the firm said in a statement. “We are confident in our legal position and will address the details in the appropriate forum. Delos Capital Management continues to operate with the highest standards of integrity and remains focused on serving our investors.”

Sanghoee is seeking at least $20 million, which he claims he will earn from carried interest in Fund II, into which he says he invested $900,000 of his own money. He is also seeking bonuses and other damages, which he says were unlawfully denied “despite his significant efforts to keep the company afloat while Mr. Constantino was wallowing in inebriation and unable to perform his duties.”

Delos said in its statement that Sanghoee “never had a written employment contract with the company” and that “the requested compensation was never contractually promised or owed.”

According to Sanghoee, Constantino frequently withheld bonuses or other promised benefits from Delos employees; in one case, he reneged on a commitment to cover a former employee’s tuition at Harvard Business School. Sanghoee claims he was dismissed from Delos because he refused to accept the illegal withholding of bonuses from the firm’s chief financial officer. Many other staff were laid off without receiving bonuses, he said.

Sanghoee, who joined Delos in 2013 after previous roles at Lazard and Ramius Capital Group, claims Constantino’s heavy drinking led to him barely making it to the office and frequently canceling investor update calls. He says Constantino ordered him and others at Delos to “blatantly lie” to investors about the founder’s absence.

According to Sanghoee, Constantino’s “abject and prolonged neglect of his fiduciary duties” turned Fund II into an “unfinished disaster” that failed to generate a meaningful profit for investors. The fund’s investments include regional gym operator Onelife Fitness, which was acquired by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris’ 26North Partners in 2024 in a deal that valued the company at $500 million. This exit “provides only minimal distributions and consists primarily of return of capital,” Sanghoee says.

‘Investors are disappointed’

Ari Lefkovits, then Delos’ managing partner, said in a Bloomberg Intelligence podcast last year that the firm had seven portfolio companies at the time and was considering adding to its 10-employee roster to create a business where the firm could be an advisor or investor in “unorthodox” situations. Lefkovits and two other Delos employees left last month to found Apotheo Capital.

Years before the Dominican Republic trip, Constantino began “using strange and contextually inappropriate spiritual references in communicating with investors,” Sanghoee said. This, he added, “has led to the frustration of investors who are not getting the right answers to their investment questions, but instead are being subjected to irrelevant, stream-of-consciousness nonsense.”

Last year, Constantino published a self-help book titled Gratitude, Power, and Opportunity. This book promises that his method and “fearless example” will help readers “achieve the clarity of introspection necessary for progress in every aspect of their lives.” In the book, which is based on daily diary entries, Constantino talks about “a difficult few years” but does not explain further. In the introduction, he describes his trip to the Dominican Republic.

But in his lawsuit, Sanghoee alleges that Constantino’s experience in the Dominican Republic, which resulted in him being flown to the United States, was caused by “sheer alcohol consumption,” not poisoning. Sanghoee said Constantino has since embellished the story by adding “crazy conspiracy theories” and exaggerating the public’s interest in the story.

“He often boasted that Hollywood stars Ben Affleck and Christian Bale were interested in both making a movie about the story and portraying him in the film, even claiming to be in talks with them,” Sanghoee said, noting that Constantino “also frequently talked to investors about the Dominican Republic incident.”

The case is Sanghoee v. Delos Capital Management LP, 653314/2026, Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County.

With help from Max Abelson and Laura Benitez.

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