Software Company Entrata Says It Ousted Co-Founder for Sending Anti-Semitic Email

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Utah software company Entrata Inc. said it ousted its chairman after he sent an anti-Semitic email to dozens of business leaders and politicians that stated false information about Covid-19 vaccines and testing.

David Bateman,

also a co-founder of Entrata, was asked to resign by the board of directors hours after the Tuesday morning email was sent, according to a company spokesman. Mr. Bateman agreed to step down, effective immediately, the spokesman said.

The email, viewed by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the company, was sent from Mr. Bateman’s Entrata email address. It had the subject line “Genocide,” and falsely stated that Jewish people are behind a plot to kill Americans through the vaccine and PCR testing.

“The opinions expressed by Dave were his alone, and do not reflect the views or values of Entrata, the executive team, board of directors, or investors,” Entrata Chief Executive

Adam Edmunds

said in posts on LinkedIn and Twitter on Tuesday. “To be absolutely clear, we at Entrata firmly condemn antisemitism in any and all forms.”

Mr. Bateman didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The email, earlier reported by Utah’s local news television station KSTU, was sent to several prominent people in the state, including Republican

Gov. Spencer Cox.

Mr. Cox said on Twitter that the email was sent to him. The governor’s office didn’t respond to requests for additional comment.

“These irresponsible comments are hurtfully anti-Semitic, blatantly false, and we completely reject them,” he said in a tweet.

The United Jewish Federation of Utah condemned the email and said statements from influential people are dangerous because they can contribute to hate crimes and violence.

“The statement contained vile, hyperbolic and untrue accusations against Jews which amplify some of the worst anti-Semitism in our history,” the organization said.

Based in Lehi, Utah, Entrata was founded in 2003 and offers property managers software and tools for lease signing, accounting and other tasks. More than 20,000 apartment communities use it, according to the company’s website.

It raised $507 million from investors in July, led by private-equity firm Silver Lake, with plans to use the money to expand internationally and invest in research and development.

In a statement, Silver Lake said, “His e-mail does not reflect our views in any way and we resoundingly condemn antisemitism and hate in all its forms.”

Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com