System1, Inc.SST
System1, Inc. Commitments Disclosure
Commitments and Contingencies
In June 2023, we entered into a multi-year agreement with a data cloud platform service provider whereby we are contractually obligated to spend $5.0 million in each annual period between July 2023 and June 2026. As of December 31, 2025, we remain contractually obligated to spend $1.2 million towards this commitment.
As of December 31, 2025, we had various non-cancelable operating lease commitments for office space which have been recorded as Operating lease liabilities. See Note 5, Leases for additional information regarding lease commitments.
Litigation
We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. We believe the ultimate liability, if any, with respect to these actions will not materially affect the consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows reflected in the consolidated financial statements. There can be no assurance, however, that the ultimate resolution of such actions will not materially or adversely affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. We accrued for losses when the loss is deemed probable and the liability can reasonably be estimated.
In October 2023, a putative California class action complaint (the "Complaint") was filed against us and our Protected business regarding alleged violations of California’s Auto Renewal Law requirements related to the marketing and sale of its subscription service offerings for anti-virus and ad-blocking software (the "Protected Software") to consumers. The Complaint alleges claims under California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws and primarily alleges that the marketing and sales checkout flows for the Protected Software did not clearly and conspicuously disclose that the named plaintiffs set forth in the Complaint were purchasing the Protected Software for a promotional period which would auto-renew after the applicable promotional period. While we dispute the claims alleged, we reached a Settlement Agreement during September 2024 and paid $2.5 million during December 2024, presented within Selling, general, and administrative expenses in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2024.
In September 2025, certain lenders (the "Lenders") under our Credit Agreement, dated January 27, 2022 (the "Credit Agreement"), filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York (the "New York Loan Matter") alleging (i) breach of contract against certain named subsidiaries of the Company that are parties to the Credit Agreement related to the corporate reorganization transactions undertaken by us in August 2024 to better align its corporate entity structure with its reportable business segments (the "Corporate Reorg Transactions"), (ii) both intentional fraudulent transfer and constructive fraudulent transfer against certain named subsidiaries of the Company, including certain subsidiaries that are parties to the Credit Agreement, related to certain steps that such defendants undertook in connection with certain transactions undertaken by the Company related to the sale of its Total Security business in November 2023 (the "Total Security Transactions") and (iii) both intentional fraudulent transfer and constructive fraudulent transfer against certain named subsidiaries of the Company, including certain subsidiaries that are parties to the Credit Agreement, related to certain steps that such defendants undertook in connection with the Corporate Reorg Transactions. Concurrently with the filing of the New York Loan Matter, the same Lenders under our Credit Agreement filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court (Los Angeles County) (the "California Matter" and, together with the New York Loan Matter, the "Creditor Lawsuits") alleging intentional and constructive fraudulent transfer against Openmail2, LLC, an entity controlled by our co-founders ("Openmail2") and
certain trusts established for the benefit of the co-founders families (the "Co-founder Trusts") which are significant shareholders of the Company in connection with certain arm’s-length negotiated loans that Openmail2 and the Co-founder Trusts extended to certain subsidiaries of the Company in fiscal year 2023 (the "Affiliate Loans") and which were repaid with a portion of the proceeds of the Total Security sale. In November 2025, the Creditor Lawsuits were consolidated into an amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, setting forth the same allegations against the same parties as those set forth in the Creditor Lawsuits, since the Lawsuits principally relate to the same allegations and underlying transactions. Our subsidiaries that were parties to the Affiliate Loans agreed to indemnify Openmail2 and the Co-founder Trusts for any third-party claims asserted against such parties in connection with extending the Affiliate Loans. We dispute all of the allegations set forth in the Creditor Lawsuits, deny any liability related thereto and intend to defend ourselves vigorously against the allegations and claims set forth therein. We have not accrued a loss related to the Creditor Lawsuits, as a loss is not currently probable and a loss, or range of loss, is not reasonably estimable.
Indemnifications
In the ordinary course of business, we may provide indemnifications of varying scope and terms to customers, vendors, lessors, investors, directors, officers, employees, and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of our breach of such agreements, services to be provided by us, or from intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. These indemnifications may survive termination of the underlying agreement and the maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification provisions may not be subject to claims related to these indemnifications. As a result, we believe the estimated fair value of these agreements was immaterial. Accordingly, we have no liabilities recorded for these agreements as of December 31, 2025 or December 31, 2024, respectively.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mar 11, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Mar 10, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Mar 15, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Jun 6, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Mar 31, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Apr 2, 2021 | |
About Commitments Disclosures
Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.
Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.