Newly appointed CAO facing court battles over MasteryPrep, Moxey

    MasteryPrep co-founders Charlie Davis and Craig Gehring together in 2015. Photography by Brian Baiamonte

    Newly appointed interim city-parish Chief Administrative Officer Charlie Davis is dealing with multiple civil lawsuits in court in addition to his new role for the city government.

    Mayor-President elect Sid Edwards named Davis―currently secretary of the Louisiana Republican Party―to the position on Christmas Eve, touting that he brings over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor. He is also vice president of New Schools for Baton Rouge. 

    Davis is the founder and CEO of Moxey, a Louisiana-based small business network that provides a private economy platform for local business owners. He also co-founded MasteryPrep, a company helping underprivileged students improve ACT scores nationwide, but according to his LinkedIn, left that position in 2017 to found Moxey.

    Davis is now suing MasteryPrep and co-founder Craig Gehring, alleging he is owed money from its 2022 acquisition by New York-based educational investment firm Achieve Partners in what officials said was one of the highest prices paid for a local tech firm. Though the terms of that deal were not disclosed, it reportedly reached eight figures. 

    At the same time, he has been sued by Moxey clients Trust Acadiana, Partners One Inc. and Tangitrade Inc. over allegations involving data issues. All cases are pending in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. 

    Neither Edwards nor Davis could be reached for comment at deadline.