Disgraced former Dragons’ Den star Julie Meyer, who was stripped of her honours over a £200,000 legal row and issued with an arrest warrant, has now seen her firm go into liquidation.

The venture capitalist, 60, was awarded an MBE in 2012 and an honorary doctorate from Warwick University in 2014. 

But both titles were rescinded after she was accused of withholding £200,000 in unpaid fees to her solicitors, Farrer & Co, during a high-profile legal battle in 2022.

When she failed to turn up to court over the issue or pay her lawyers, she was branded ‘selfish’ by a British judge – and handed a six-month suspended sentence for contempt of court. 

The legal clash directly led to Warwick University forfeiting her honorary doctorate degree in 2022, while the Cabinet Office stripped Meyer of her MBE in August 2025 for ‘bringing the honours system into disrepute’.

Having since moved from the UK to Switzerland, documents show her venture capital firm VIVA Investment Partners AG (VIP) has now gone into liquidation. 

Meyer founded the firm in 2018 after relocating her business operations from Malta to Zurich and is listed on her website as VIP’s chairman and chief executive officer.

VIP, which is based in the exclusive district of Zollikon, had accumulated around 435,000 CHF (£400,000) in open claims from tax offices, IT firms, and small business suppliers, Swiss business magazine Beobachter reported.

Disgraced former Dragons’ Den star Julie Meyer, who was stripped of her honours over a £200,000 legal row, has now seen her Swiss firm go into liquidation

Meyer’s venture capital firm VIVA Investment Partners AG (VIP) has now gone into liquidation

Meyer had previously operated a UK arm of the firm, VIVA Investment Partners (UK) Limited from a Surrey-based address, but applied for a voluntary strike-off. The company was officially dissolved in April 2023.

Her Swiss-based firm officially began liquidation proceedings on August 18, with an official notice published by the Meilen Judicial District Court.

While VIP is registered in Switzerland, sources close to Meyer said she now spends much of her time in Greece, where she owns a villa on the island of Kea and frequently hosts networking events on the island.

On her LinkedIn profile, Meyer lists herself as the founder and CEO of Kea Valley Enterprises, an investment vehicle for luxury real estate opportunities on the island which is registered in Cyprus.  

She is also the managing director of Keanaissance Longevity Partners, which brings together high-net-worth investors, scientists and tech founders looking to invest in anti-aging technology and healthcare. 

Places for an upcoming summit in November are being advertised at €5,000 (£4,278) for the seven-day event. 

Notably, on both her LinkedIn profile and her official website, Meyer still lists herself as the chairman and CEO of VIP – and continues to style herself as ‘Dr Julie Meyer MBE’, despite having lost both honours.

Daily Mail has also seen the businesswoman denoted as ‘Dr Julie Meyer MBE’ on a website for Follow The Entrepreneur (FTE), which describes her as a member of the ‘FTE Capital Markets Team’.

There is no clarification that ‘MBE’ might refer to anything other than the British honour handed to her in 2012. 

The American-born businesswoman was hailed as one of two new Dragons chosen for an online version of the BBC Two show in 2009 and she formerly advised David Cameron’s government.

When Daily Mail previously approached Meyer for comment over still using the MBE title after her name, she denied having received any ‘official’ correspondence relating to this – and said ‘MBE’ referred to ‘another organisation’.

She said: ‘I have not received any official letter from the UK government about my MBE being removed.

‘The MBE which you appear to be referring to does not refer to the Member of the British Empire award. It refers to another organisation which was set up many years ago. This has nothing to do with the UK at all.

‘I don’t advertise myself or my FTE Events at all. They are private events, and there is no website for them.’

On her LinkedIn profile, Meyer has listed under her experience that she is a ‘Member of the Board of EcosystemEconomics(r) Association (MBE). 

Despite enquiries, Daily Mail has not found any evidence of the EcosystemEconomics(r) Association or its associated board.

Prior to becoming a Dragons’ Den star, Meyer had been lauded for her business instinct and support of major internet and tech brands early on in their development, including lastminute.com and Skype.

The American moved to London in 1998 and made millions from the $50million sale of her firm First Tuesday, a networking group for entrepreneurs and investors, in July 2000.

In her Dragons’ Den biography, she was described as a World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow, an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and a regular speaker on entrepreneurship and leadership.

But her name hit the headlines in 2022 when she became embroiled in a legal fight with Farrers, the law firm engaged by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

When she failed to turn up to a court hearing on Valentine’s Day that year, the judge dramatically issued a warrant for her arrest.

Controversially, the entrepreneur said she had been unable to travel from her home in Switzerland due to conjunctivitis and not having received a Covid vaccine.

But it was ruled her medical evidence was not grounds to avoid attending the court hearings in person. 

She was said to owe almost £200,000 to Farrers, which represented her in a court case in Malta.

The High Court heard she failed to pay Farrer partner Julian Pike £197,000, claiming the firm had provided a poor standard of service, which had been worth about £50,000.

When Meyer was handed a six-month suspended sentence, Mr Justice Kerr said she had shown herself ‘to be a selfish and untrustworthy person’. 

The judge said: ‘I am satisfied there is every prospect that the defendant will continue to flout orders of the court unless coerced into obeying them.’

Meyer is still using ‘Dr’ and ‘MBE’ despite having been stripped of both honours 

He added that some of the evidence filed on Meyer’s behalf sought to show her as ‘too important for the courts of England and Wales to take precedent over her other interests’.

In her defence, Meyer said the law firm had ‘abused their privileged position as the Queen’s lawyers’ and claimed they had ‘harassed’ her and her firm.

She lost an appeal to overturn the suspended prison sentence.

Last August, Meyer’s name appeared alongside 11 others on an updated list published by the Cabinet Office of individuals who had been stripped of their prestigious gongs.

At least six of these – all men – were stripped after being convicted of child sex offences, while the others were found guilty of misconduct or acting inappropriately. 

Meyer is also one of only two women on the infamous list in recent years – the other being former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who forfeited a CBE for her handling of the Horizon IT scandal.

She previously told Daily Mail that she has not received ‘any communication to me personally from either of the institutions’. 

She added that ‘one cannot revoke an award or an honour by posting something online’.

The Cabinet Office confirmed that recipients who are stripped of their titles are informed of the decision before it is made public. 

Those who have forfeited their honours will then appear on an official notice published in the London Gazette and on the gov.uk website.

Meyer’s name appears on both the online list and in a notice published in the London Gazette.  

Daily Mail contacted Warwick University, which confirmed she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in 2014. A spokesperson added that the university had written to her at the time it was revoked in 2022.

After being made aware Ms Meyer was still styling herself as ‘Dr’ three years after the revocation, Warwick University said ‘[We have] contacted Ms Meyer to request removal of any reference to the award.’

Both ‘Dr’ and ‘MBE’ continue to be used by Meyer in her profiles.

– READ MORE: Shamed Dragons’ Den star is STILL styling herself as Dr and MBE despite being stripped of titles after £200,000 legal row