Woman listed as co-CEO with FAMU $237 million donor, says she never worked for him

Days after Florida A&M University announced one of the largest recent gifts in higher education history from a little-known Texas entrepreneur, details about Gregory Gerami and his company are leading to more questions.

Kimberly Abbott, who formerly served on the City Council in Birmingham, Alabama, has known Gerami for years — long before the 30-year-old was celebrated for his $237 million stock transfer that university officials say is in the foundation's account. And, long before he was heralded as one of the youngest and few Black hemp farmers in Texas.

In an operation that Gerami himself says employs only a few full-time administrators in a workforce of 7,000 contract employees, Abbott was listed as co-CEO and vice chair of Batterson Farms Corp., where Gerami is CEO.

That would make her perhaps the only employee publicly associated with Batterson Farms; the company has no employees listed on LinkedIn or any other social media site.

But when asked if she worked at Batterson Farms, Abbott said, "I never did."

BREAKING: FAMU President says donor gift on hold amid crisis of confidence

She initially liked the post announcing her new title on the company's threadbare Facebook page back in January 2022, but she says all she ever provided was advice and heard promises that never materialized: "I've never received a dime from him or anything," she told the Tallahassee Democrat. "Just a slew of phone calls. But that's about it."

In an interview Wednesday, Abbott said the website and company were supposed to be dissolved "years ago."

"I did not know my name was there," she said. She added that Gerami "has created a situation where my integrity, my name is being questioned. People are reaching out to me because he's put me in a position that I should have never been in."

In a media availability arranged by FAMU Monday, Gerami told the Democrat that Abbott "left us maybe about a couple months, maybe about a month ago. She has more of an advisor role right now. She had some health issues."

When asked later whether he would be surprised to hear Abbott said she was never an employee of Batterson Farms and never received any compensation as an employee, Gerami said, "Nothing surprises me anymore."

He described her duties as co-CEO as "really just there to guide and give more advice" and she didn't do as much work as others in the company. Her compensation, he said, was given through penny stocks.

FAMU cancels interview with Democrat and donor because 'something came up'

Abbott's interactions with Gerami are the latest revelation that clouds what was meant to be a milestone moment for FAMU, one that was framed by university officials as having generational and transformational impact.

So much so that FAMU, during its recent spring graduation ceremony, surprised and shocked the audience with an announcement that Gerami was donating $237 million to the university — the largest single donation in FAMU's history and the largest individual gift ever for a historically Black college or university.

The occasion sparked joy from FAMU officials, including President Larry Robinson, who called the gift "breathtaking in its generosity and scope."

Now in more of a crisis mode, the 136-year-old university's administration is attempting to manage growing speculation about Gerami. Meantime, the school's Board of Trustees has called for a special meeting on May 15 that will focus on the donation and its circumstances.

Gerami spent days in Florida's capital city that included meetings with FAMU officials, time on campus and visits around the city, including a Sunday service at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church one day after FAMU's graduation. Gerami received a standing ovation from church members after being showered with praise and gratitude for the historic donation.

On Wednesday, a FAMU spokesperson invited the Democrat to meet with Gerami and officials at the university's foundation office. But moments before it was scheduled to begin, a FAMU official said it was canceled because "something came up." He said any future interview was "on pause."

FAMU officials have maintained they did due diligence on the donation and the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust. Gerami is a foundation family representative for the trust and the university says it has already transferred the stocks — some of which are in hydroponic farming and agriculture businesses — to the FAMU Foundation’s account.

They have been tight-lipped on plans and a timetable for converting the stock to cash. But after a public records request by the Democrat, the university released a gift agreement that shows how the conversion will take place over 10 years.

Despite the cancellation of the May 8 interview arranged by FAMU, Gerami broke the "pause" with a late-night interview with the Democrat in an attempt to dispel rumors and what he calls "miscommunication."

"I think people have a description of what a donor should look like, right?" Gerami said. "You can go online and go to Forbes and see what people think the norm of what a donor should be, and I think I don't fit that norm."

Hemp a hard business in Texas; Batterson Farms Corp. unknown to Hemp Growers Association

The company website describes Batterson Farms Corp as a hydroponic farming and hemp plastic company that is "passionate about growing green" in the belief "that hydroponics is the future of agriculture." Hydroponics is the "technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Little is known about the company, however, even among those in the hemp industry. When contacted by the Democrat, the head of the Texas Hemp Growers Association said she had not heard of Batterson Farms Corp or Gerami.

She said hemp growing can be a hard business in Texas.

"I would guess that less than a half dozen people in Texas have made money on hemp," said Tillery Timmons-Sims, the association's executive director.

Records provided by the Texas Department of Agriculture show Batterson Farms Corp of Austin, Texas, was issued a permit to produce industrial hemp effective Dec. 31, 2023. The permit expires at the end of 2024.

The department, in a letter to Batterson Farms, noted that all hemp growers in Texas must have a lot crop permit for each lot, field or greenhouse where it would be grown before production can begin. Failure to do so can result in penalties, including destruction of the hemp lot.

On a Facebook page under the name of Brice Gerami, a lot crop permit was posted on March 19 for Batterson Farms. Abbott told the Democrat Gerami sometimes used the name Brice and Jeremy, though she doesn't know why. The permit with a redacted address and size of the crop was issued on March 18 and was to expire Sept. 14.

"We are go for hemp planting this spring god been so good grateful for my family," the post said over a screenshot of the permit.

When asked why the association has no knowledge of Batterson Farms Corp., Gerami said, "We're not a member."

"Hemp growers do not have to be assigned to a membership," Gerami said. "If you want to know something, call the USDA contact." He insisted he had an active license, adding that it may not have been added yet, or that tech support may need to get involved. He declined to send a photo of the license.

On May 7, during an in-person interview with the Democrat and accompanied by FAMU officials, Gerami shared more insights about his vision and what drew his philanthropic eye to Florida A&M – even though he has no connections to the university. He said his company looks for partnerships with institutions with the goal of developing prototypes, products and other initiatives.

"So many universities have a long waiting list. So FAMU just kind of met the needs that we thought were appropriate with me being an African American-owned business and focusing on different markets and different things," said Gerami, sitting in a conference room at Lee Hall, wearing a FAMU cap and polo shirt.

He said his company has a partnership with the USDA, adding "there's a lot of need overseas for agricultural things."

No address is listed on the company's website, aside from "Corporate Office: Sierra Blanca" and a grid map. No partners or projects are listed, with the exception of a video clip of an April 2023 television news report regarding a hydroponic warehouse facility that Gerami reportedly purchased to build in Muleshoe, Texas. The report said it would be the largest facility of its kind in west Texas, promising to generate more than 500 jobs.

The Texas Hemp Growers Association said they were told that project never took off. When asked about an update on the project, Gerami said the project needed some "tweaks."

"So right now, we're finalizing the rendering slides," he said. "Once we finalize the rendering, we will go back to the county and city and present those new renderings ... Now it looks like it's going to increase, which means that our building size is going to increase because of the different products that we're going to be handling on that site. That's different than what we were doing a year ago."

Gerami said his company — with offices in Van Horn and San Antonio, Texas — is expanding to about four more new warehouses across the country in the next year or so.

But in the one-on-one late-night interview Wednesday, Gerami said he didn't own the property where the Muleshoe hydroponic warehouse was slated to be built. He said it was previously under contract, then fell through. There's currently a "for sale" sign on the site.

When pressed about why he did not tell the Democrat he didn't own the property, Gerami said, "If you would have asked if we owned the property, I would have said we don't."

Abbott: 'He refuses to be transparent with anyone'

Abbott, who now lives in a small town outside of Birmingham, talked about first meeting Gerami. She described the early interactions as "adversarial."

At the time, Abbott was a Birmingham city councilwoman and was working with another developer on the redevelopment of property in Birmingham that Gerami also was interested in.

"Gregory stuck his nose in with a different plan and did something else with another councilman to try to subvert what I was attempting to do, and so I came out looking kind of foolish," Abbott said. "I was very angry at the way he was conducting himself in relation to the city and the redevelopment of this property."

But Abbott said he was a young man and decided to give him another chance, writing the interactions off as novice behavior. In time, she grew fond of him and even penned a letter of reference hailing him as “a man of good character, ethical in his business practices and reflects his good moral upbringing.”

While it was published on one of Gerami's LinkedIn accounts, Abbott said the letter was actually a character letter for a lawsuit Gerami had against someone.

"When I first met him, and when I wrote that letter of reference, he seemed to be a young man who was struggling to find his way in the world," Abbott said. "He had been given, according to him, a large inheritance, and he wanted to do something. He wanted to do something great."

Abbott said her early impression of him was someone who "wanted to make a big noise but he didn't really want to deal with the details." With that, she felt he had potential.

In time, however, Abbott's impression of him changed. When she was still in office, Abbott said she was always bothered by the lack of details and transparency that often came with Gerami's proposals.

For example, Abbott said, Gerami presented proposals before the nine-member City Council on the redevelopment of a property, but all of his financial information was redacted. She said documents offered hints of information, adding "you couldn't get a good handle on whether he was a valid financier. Were the funds actually there?"

She went on: "My biggest problem, and this is public knowledge ... he refuses to be transparent. He refuses to be transparent with anyone," Abbott said. "That is my experience on the Council. You could not, with confidence, say that the money was going to be there, or the validity of his investment was going to pan out."

The last time she saw him she said they had Mexican food together over dinner in 2018 or 2019. Since then, she described the relationship as "hands off" and that she only hears from him when he wants advice. But that started to feel like a time-suck to her.

"In all the years I've known him, as many promises as he's made about, 'I'm gonna call you in two months. We're gonna meet here. I'm gonna fly you out to here,' blah, blah, blah, nothing ever happens," she said.

Abbott in disbelief but hopeful after news breaks on record donation

Abbott had no idea of Gerami's historic $237 million gift to Florida A&M University until she began getting calls from reporters, prompting her to go online. It was then she learned of Gerami's gift and what she says is a false association with Batterson Farms Corp.

Abbott told the Democrat she then called Gerami and told him "You've got three days to remove my name from everything ... I am not your CEO ... Do not put my name out endorsing any project."

Shortly after, the Batterson Farms website was updated to eliminate navigation bars to a password locked board of directors site that drew scrutiny and the "About Us" section that features an inspirational bio of Gerami and Abbott's photo. The profile and Abbott's photo still exist online and are searchable on Google.

In the late night interview, Gerami said it was a mistake to have her photo still on the website.

In an effort to address confusion, Gerami said he made the change after seeing online comments about Abbott being co-CEO and vice chair at Batterson Farms Corp. When asked if he was contacted by Abbott to remove her name from the site, he said he wasn't.

For her part, Abbott remains hopeful but she has "no faith" things will turn out well for FAMU.

"I know zero about how much he's got. I know zero about his absolute potential in the business world because he's not transparent," she said. "But I've never seen anything productive come out of what he has going on in a development."

And the donation to FAMU isn't the first time Gerami has been connected to a sizeable donation for millions of dollars.

Last year, as previously reported, a $95 million "transformational" planned gift to Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., fell through and fueled more concerns among FAMU alumni and supporters.

"Without disclosing any information, I can tell you that nothing he ever said made sense. It didn't add up, and I don't feel good about this gift that he's given to this university," Abbott said. "If it works out, God bless him and God bless the university."

Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Co-CEO' of Gregory Gerami, FAMU $237 million donor, adds to questions