He kept using the work product and brand assets for a while, I sent a follow-up email later saying there would be legal action if he didn’t stop using them since he didn’t pay for them.

He left the site up for years but became the CEO of another startup, and the emails started bouncing at the other one.

Advice I got was basically there is not shit I can do, I was a contractor (1099) and even if I had been W2 and had payroll protections the company no longer exists.

It’s very easy to re-brand and start anew in fact that’s what I was helping him do from the last time.