LQR House CEO Sean Dollinger Resigns; New CEO and CFO Named

What happened

LQR House Inc., a Nasdaq-listed beverage company that trades under the ticker YHC, reported in a Form 8-K filed October 16, 2026 that chief executive Sean Dollinger resigned that day from the CEO role and from all other officer, director, employee and representative positions at the company and its subsidiaries and affiliates.

Under a Resignation and Release Agreement dated the same day, the company agreed to pay Dollinger a one-time lump-sum cash payment of $500,000 within eight days of the resignation date. It also agreed to transfer all of the issued and outstanding stock of LQR House Acquisition Corp., a wholly owned Nevada subsidiary whose primary operations relate to the cwspirits.com website, to an entity designated by Dollinger, subject to a separate stock purchase agreement.

The company also agreed to mutual releases of claims, to provide certain indemnification and advancement rights to Dollinger for specified matters arising from his service, and to maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance coverage for him for at least six years. The agreement requires the company to use commercially reasonable efforts to change its legal name to one that does not include 'LQR House' within 90 days of October 16, 2026.

Separately, chief financial officer Kumar Abhishek resigned effective immediately on October 16, 2026. The filing states that his resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices.

The board appointed Lihong 'Leo' Chen as chief executive officer and Kit Yan 'Mark' Lau as chief financial officer, both effective immediately. The filing says neither appointment was made pursuant to any arrangement or understanding with any other person, and that no employment agreement or compensatory arrangement has yet been entered into with either; the company expects to disclose material terms when finalized. Chen signed the 8-K as CEO.

The stock purchase agreement

The filing describes the transfer of LQR House Acquisition Corp. as carried out through a Stock Purchase Agreement also dated October 16, 2026, among the company, Boston Crest PVT LTD and Dollinger. Boston Crest is an Indian company owned and controlled by Kumar Abhishek, the outgoing chief financial officer.

The filing states that no separate cash purchase price is payable by the purchaser, because the equity transfer forms part of the settlement consideration owed to Dollinger under the resignation agreement.

Under the stock purchase agreement, the purchaser agreed to fulfill certain contracts the company entered into directly related to operating cwspirits.com, including those tied to marketing, sales, fulfillment and revenue generation through the site, and to indemnify the company and its affiliates against liabilities relating to those contracts. Dollinger agreed to undertake certain obligations connected with the purchaser's performance. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including accuracy of representations and warranties, compliance with covenants, and receipt of required approvals and consents, and is to occur no later than 60 days after the resignation date.

What this means

A Form 8-K is the 'current report' a US public company must file with the SEC when something material happens between its regular quarterly and annual reports. The numbered 'items' in the filing are the categories the event falls under. Item 5.02 covers the departure or appointment of directors and certain officers, which is where the CEO and CFO changes are disclosed. Item 1.01 covers entry into a material definitive agreement — here, the resignation and release agreement and the stock purchase agreement. Item 7.01 is Regulation FD disclosure, a channel for information the company is making public broadly rather than selectively, and in this case it carries a press release announcing the CEO change. Item 9.01 lists the exhibits, including the two agreements and the press release.

The $500,000 cash payment and the transfer of LQR House Acquisition Corp. are not a severance figure and a sale happening to coincide. The filing describes them together as the 'settlement consideration' payable to Dollinger under the resignation agreement — the payment for his resignation, his release of claims, and his other obligations under that agreement.

The structure of the subsidiary transfer is worth spelling out for readers coming to this cold. LQR House Acquisition Corp. is a separate legal entity wholly owned by LQR House. Its stock is being transferred to an entity Dollinger designates, and the buyer named in the stock purchase agreement is a company controlled by the outgoing CFO. Because the shares are handed over as part of Dollinger's settlement, no cash changes hands for them under the stock purchase agreement.

The name-change provision is unusual in a resignation agreement and is stated as an obligation on the company, not a completed action. The filing says the company must use commercially reasonable efforts to adopt a legal name without 'LQR House' within 90 days. The filing does not say what new name is contemplated, and no new name has been disclosed.

The filing does not explain why Dollinger resigned, and this article does not assert a reason. The filing does give a stated reason for the CFO's departure — the absence of any disagreement — which is the standard negative assurance companies often include when an executive leaves. The filing does not say whether a permanent successor employment arrangement is in place; it says employment agreements with the new CEO and CFO are still expected.

For context on scale, the filing identifies the company as a Delaware corporation headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, listed on Nasdaq under YHC. The filing does not include financial statements or revenue figures for LQR House or for the subsidiary being transferred.

Market reaction

The shares closed at $1.92 on the event date, up 11.63% from the prior close of $1.72, according to the price data. Volume was 3,402,785 shares, about 20 times the average volume of 168,642. The price data does not establish what drove the move; the filing and the trading data are separate sources and this article does not connect them.