Ample Hills survived one bankruptcy only to end up controlled by the investors who backed its second act — its own founders were forced out seven months after buying the brand back. Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna built the company, lost it in a 2020 bankruptcy sale, briefly reclaimed it in 2023, then were fired by their own lead investor within the year. Its day-to-day conduct record is clean, but it now answers to that investor group and the CEO they installed, not to the people who started it.