MyPillow, the bedding maker Lindell founded in 2009, has been a resounding success ever since. In the United States, he is better known as the MyPillow Guy.
The businessman didn’t have the easiest childhood. According to his 2019 memoir, he developed a gambling addiction in his teens that escalated to a drug problem in his twenties. Because of his cocaine addiction and gambling debts, he was forced to drop out of high school. In a CNBC interview, he said prayer was a big part of how he finally beat his addiction in 2009.
In 2004, he took a step toward realizing his dream when he designed the foam-filled pillow that would become the MyPillow brand pillow. The company reportedly sold 41 million pillows by 2017 and employed 1,500 people by that time.
Mike Lindell Net Worth
As of April 2023, Lindell is widely reported to be worth $50 million (£46 million). However, according to some sources, his wealth could be as high as $300 million (£275 million).
Mike Lindell Company My Pillow
Mike started many companies in Minnesota in the 1980s, including a carpet cleaning company, a restaurant, and a bar. He came up with the idea for the My Cushion in 2004, and he hawked them at conventions, mall kiosks, and fairs across the country for the next four years. In 2009, he founded My Pillow, Inc., and by 2011, the company’s first infomercial had sparked widespread interest.
The 30-minute broadcast, which aired 200 times a day on average, cost $500,000 to produce. According to Lindell, “It became the world’s number one infomercial. From 5 to 500 people joined our team in just 40 days.
The annual revenue of the corporation was estimated at $280 million when it was at its height. Over 50 million pillows have been sold, and over 1,600 people are employed by the firm as of this writing.
The Better Business Bureau downgraded My Pillow, Inc. to an F rating in 2017 after receiving numerous complaints from dissatisfied customers.
In 2020, Mike promoted his son Darren to CEO, and by 2021, My Pillow was no longer sold in many stores. A Bed Bath & Beyond spokeswoman said that My Pillow was one of several “underperforming items and brands” that the firm opted to discontinue, but Lindell thinks shops stopped selling his products because of his claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Mike revealed plans to develop Vocl, a social media network that combined Twitter and YouTube, in March 2021. When he got into a legal tussle with a corporation that already had the domain name “Vocal,” he was forced to rebrand under a new identity: Frank. Frank, Lindell’s four-year labor of love, debuted in April 2021 amid several technical issues.
Lost Revenue and Lost Fortune
Mike Lindell said in an interview that he spent $25 million to $50 million of his own money between November 2020 and December 2021 trying to prove that Donald Trump’s election was stolen.
Many businesses removed Mike’s pillows off their shelves in the immediate aftermath of his public rants over the election. As a result of this change, MyPillow saw a precipitous reduction in revenue. Mike blamed these activities for My Pillow losing over $100 million in annual income in January 2023.
According to a report from January 2022, Lindell’s own bank, Minnesota Bank & Trust, labeled him a “reputational risk.” After banking with them for a month, they cut him loose.
The major retailer and distributor of My Pillow products, Walmart, stopped carrying them in June 2022.
Mike stated he had to borrow $10 million in 2022 to keep My Pillow open in March of that same year. He also said he was selling assets and taking out loans to “stay liquid.” According to him:
“I sold a building I had in Savage, in Minnesota, in October. And I had to borrow $2 million too. I’ve spent it all fighting for this country.“
You can read the following posts if you’re interested in reading more about the wealth of other celebrities:
- Jack Nicholson Net Worth: How the Actor Became One of Hollywood’s Wealthiest Stars
- Michael Rubin Net Worth: Entrepreneurial Journey of Michael G. Rubin, a Dropout Who Made a Billion Dollars
Lawsuit With A $5 Million Challenge
In August of 2021, Mike advertised a three-day “Cyber Symposium” where he would reveal “irrefutable evidence” of voter fraud.
A $5 million reward was given to anyone who could disprove his data for the 2020 election, and he announced the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” at the symposium. Robert Zeidman, a cyber security expert, accepted Lindell’s challenge and demonstrated convincingly that the data was fake.
Zeidman demanded the $5 million bounty, but Lindell refused to pay. An arbitration panel upheld Zeidman’s findings and mandated reimbursement from Lindell in April 2023. The panel concluded as follows in its report:
“Based on the foregoing analysis, Mr. Zeidman performed under the contract. He proved the data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data. Failure to pay Mr. Zeidman the $5 million prized was a breach of the contract, entitling him to recover.“
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