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By Samuel López | USA Herald | Exclusive Legal Analysis

Updated May 8, 2026

BREAKING: USA Herald has exclusively obtained the filed jury verdict in Andrew Q. Kraft v. The Arena Group Holdings, Inc., Case No. 24-cv-2619, from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York — a document that has not yet been reported with this level of detail or legal analysis by any other outlet.

The courtroom walls closed in on Manoj Bhargava this week, and the jury made sure he felt it.

On April 27, 2026, a federal jury in Manhattan delivered a stinging rebuke to The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. — the media company controlled by the billionaire energy drink mogul whose ambitions of becoming a publishing empire builder are now crumbling in real time. The plaintiff, Andrew Q. Kraft, walked away as the prevailing party after a multi-issue trial that dissected one of the more legally complex executive employment disputes to hit federal court this year.

The verdict — obtained exclusively by USA Herald directly from the Southern District of New York docket — runs six pages and answers a cascade of contested legal questions. What it reveals is damning for Bhargava's company on the issues that mattered most.

The jury's first critical finding came on Issue 1A: whether Kraft had substantially performed all terms of his Amended and Restated Executive Employment Agreement dated January 1, 2021. The jury answered YES. That single check mark set the entire verdict in motion — and everything that followed compounded the damage to The Arena Group.

From there, the jury was directed to determine whether The Arena Group had properly terminated Kraft "for Cause" under Section 1.3(b)(i) of the Employment Agreement — a provision requiring written notice that set forth the termination date and described, in reasonable detail, the circumstances claimed to justify the firing. The jury answered NO.

Under the verdict form's own instructions, that finding required the jury to treat the termination as not for Cause — a legally consequential determination that stripped away the company's central defense.

Moving into the damages phase under Issue 2, the jury found YES on Question 2A: that the August 1, 2023 First Amendment to Kraft's employment agreement had been properly approved by the Compensation Committee of The Arena Group's Board of Directors in accordance with the company's governing Bylaws and Charter.

The jury further found, under Question 2B1, that Kraft had in fact earned unpaid quarterly bonuses for 2023. On the performance metrics, the jury determined that Kraft met 50% attainment in both Q1 and Q2 of 2023 — findings that carry direct monetary consequences for the company.