Cargo containers stacked aboard a ship at the Jakarta International Container Terminal in Tanjung Priok Port on Aug. 7, 2025.Str | Afp | Getty ImagesThe private market assets platform Yieldstreet struck a deal to recoup some of its legal expenses for an ill-fated series of marine loans — but its customers are less fortunate.Yieldstreet is getting $5 million in a settlement with the borrowers who defaulted on the marine loans, the startup told customers last week in letters obtained by CNBC.But since the company’s recovery cost “well exceeds the entire settlement amount,” it’s unlikely investors will see any repayment, Yieldstreet said. The deals are being closed and financial statements showing losses will be filed by February, the company said.”We recognize this outcome is disappointing,” Yieldstreet said in the investor letter. “Yieldstreet pursued this extensive recovery effort because we are committed to exhausting every reasonable avenue for investor recovery.”Yieldstreet put its investors into deals totaling $89 million in loans that were supposed to be backed by 13 ships, according to a lawsuit filed by the startup against the borrower in that project. The loans float money to companies that take apart ships for scrap metal; the vessels themselves are the collateral on the deals.Yieldstreet lost track of the ships and then pursued the borrower, which it accused of fraud. While it won monetary awards in a number of jurisdictions outside the U.S., the borrower avoided paying the startup by concealing their assets, Yieldstreet said in the August investor letter.The episode garnered media coverage and in 2020 contributed to the collapse of a high-profile partnership with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.The news of this latest loss follows CNBC’s report last month that Yieldstreet customers in four real estate deals worth $78 million have been wiped out, with roughly $300 million of other deals on watchlist for possible losses.This year, Yieldstreet changed its CEO and announced a new business model that le …
