Tom Mahathirath

Tom F. Mahathirath is a Southern California–based investment professional (Irvine, CA) who describes himself as having 25+ years of experience in investment management and real estate development. He is identified as a Managing Partner at TFM Advisors and Baan Capital LLC, and more recently as a Managing Partner at Som Real Estate LLC. Aggregated professional records indicate his career centered on institutional real estate, with prior working relationships tied to major public pension funds (UC Regents, CalPERS, CalSTRS) and corporate/private pension plans (Prudential Insurance, GM, Eastman Kodak, BASF). His stated areas of expertise include real estate economics, asset management, real estate financing, and investment properties.

From roughly the late 2010s through 2020, Mahathirath was employed by TriPacific Capital Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered real estate investment advisory firm. He was terminated by TriPacific in September 2020. He subsequently sued the firm and its president, Geoffrey Fearns, for breach of contract and various tort claims, seeking nearly $9 million in damages. Following a one-week arbitration before retired Federal Magistrate Judge Rosalyn Chapman, the arbitrator ruled against Mahathirath on all counts, characterizing his claims as "without merit" and brought "in bad faith," and finding that his testimony lacked credibility. The award was confirmed as a judgment in Orange County Superior Court on May 16, 2023 (Case No. 30-2020-01170513-CU-BC-CJC), ordering Mahathirath to pay TriPacific more than $1.5 million in attorney's fees and costs. Founders and co-investors conducting diligence should be aware of this public judgment.

Separately, Mahathirath serves as an Advisor / Board Member at Som Technologies, a veteran- and minority-owned small business (offices in California and Washington, DC) providing web and mobile development, cybersecurity, and branding/marketing services. This is the clearest link between him and a technology company, though it is an advisory/board relationship rather than a documented startup investment.

No verifiable public record was found of education, specific angel investments, or seed-stage startup checks. Those details are omitted here rather than guessed.

• Career expertise and stated focus are in real estate: real estate economics, asset management, real estate financing, and investment properties (per aggregated professional profiles).
• Institutional orientation historically — sourcing and managing capital in relation to large public and corporate pension funds (CalPERS, CalSTRS, UC Regents, Prudential, GM, etc.), rather than early-stage venture.
• The stub's characterization of him as an angel investor writing seed-round checks is not supported by any public source located; no specific check size, target company profile, or venture sector thesis could be verified.
• Only technology-sector tie found is an advisory board seat at Som Technologies, an IT services firm.