Mike Tyson Plugging Cannabis Brand ‘Tyson 2.0’

(originally aired on Cheddar News)

MIKE TYSON IS MANY THINGS — BOXING PHENOM, ENTREPRENEUR, PHIL COLLINS SUPERFAN (AT LEAST IN ‘THE HANGOVER,’) PODCASTER AND NOW — CANNABIS CONNOISSEUR.
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THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMP LAUNCHING A NEW CANNABIS COMPANY — DUBBED ‘TYSON 2.0’ — THAT WILL PROVIDE RETAILERS AND MULTI-STATE OPERATORS WITH A SUITE OF PRODUCTS INCLUDING FULL-SPECTRUM CANNABIS FLOWER, CONCENTRATES AND CONSUMABLES.

TYSON FOR HIS PART HASN’T BEEN SHY ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT CANNABIS AND PSYCHEDELICS HAVE HAD ON HIS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH.
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AFTER THE 20-18 LAUNCH OF ‘TYSON RANCH’ — A 40 ACRE CANNABIS RANCH IN CALIFORNIA — ‘IRON MIKE’ STARTED A PODCAST CALLED ‘HOT BOXIN’ WITH MIKE TYSON’ WHERE HE INTERVIEWS ATHLETES, CELEBRITIES AND COMEDIANS ALL WHILE PUFF, PUFF, PASSING ON HIS FAVORITE CANNABIS PRODUCTS. THE PODCAST HAS OVER 40 MILLION LISTENS.

Start-up Companies that Flamed Out

(originally aired on Cheddar News)

TODAY WE’RE GOING TO TAKE A DEEP DIVE ON COMPANIES THAT CAME IN HOT–AND QUICKLY CRASHED AND BURNED. HERE ARE SOME COMPANIES THAT FLEW TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN.

FIRST UP, WE HAVE NIKOLA.
FOUNDED IN 2014 AND BASED IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA, NIKOLA IS A DEVELOPER OF ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN POWERED TRUCKS, UTILITY VEHICLES AND TACTICAL VEHICLES. BY 2020, MANY WERE QUESTIONING IF THE ENTIRE COMPANY WAS JUST A VERY INTRICIATE SCAM. HERE’S THE TIMELINE:

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IN LATE SEPTEMBER OF 2020, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN TREVOR MILTON ABRUPTLY RESIGNS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF NUMEROUS FALSE ASSERTIONS ABOUT NIKOLA’S TECHNOLOGY.

IN NOVEMBER, GENERAL MOTORS ANNOUNCES IT IS NO LONGER TAKING AN EQUITY STAKE IN NIKOLA OR BUILDING ITS ‘BADGER’ PICKUP TRUCK. G-M INSTEAD SIGNING A NON-BINDING MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO SUPPLY NIKOLA WITH ITS HYDROTEC FUEL CELL SYSTEM.

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IN DECEMBER OF 2020, NIKOLA ANNOUNCED IT HAD TERMINATED ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPANY REPUBLIC SERVICES, WHICH HAD PLACED A PRELIMINARY ORDER FOR AT LEAST 25-HUNDRED ELECTRIC GARBAGE TRUCKS A FEW MONTHS PRIOR.

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NIKOLA RECENTLY EXTENDING ITS TIMELINE TO SHOW WHEN PRODUCTION OF ITS ZERO-EMISSION HYDROGEN-POWERED FUEL CELL TRUCKS WILL ACTUALLY BEGIN. THE COMPANY IS SET TO REPORT EARNINGS AFTER THE BELL TODAY…TAKING A LOOK AT THE CHART

SHARES HAVE DROPPED FROM OVER $50 A SHARE TO ITS CURRENT PRICE AT A LITTLE OVER $14 A SHARE.

NEXT UP,
WE’VE GOT WE-WORK.

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THE COMPANY SET OUT TO REIMAGINE THE WORK-SPACE BY LEASING OFFICES, DECKING THEM OUT, AND THEN SUBLETTING THEM TO INDIVIDUALS AND STARTUPS ALIKE. AND IT HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. BY THE BEGINNING OF 2019, WEWORK WAS THE SINGLE LARGEST OFFICE TENANT IN NEW YORK, WASHINGTON D-C, AND LONDON AND WAS PRIVATELY VALUED AT $47 BILLION DOLLARS. BY THE END OF THE YEAR, THE COMPANY SAW ITS VALUATION SLASHED BY FORTY-BILLION-DOLLARS AND PLANS FOR AN I-P-O DASHED. SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

THE S-E-C FILING FOR ITS IPO IN AUGUST OF 2019 CONTAINED A FEW RED FLAGS FOR WALL STREET

FOR ONE, THE FILING DETAILED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LOSSES

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IN 2016, THE COMPANY LOST $429 MILLION ON $436 MILLION IN REVENUE.
IN 2018, THAT LOSS WAS ACCELERATED TO $1.6 BILLION ON $1.8 BILLION IN REVENUE.
IT WAS ALSO REVEALED THAT WEWORK’S COFOUNDER AND C-E-O ADAM NEUMANN OWNED MANY OF THE BUILDINGS THAT WEWORK LEASED.
THE I-P-O FILING ALSO DETAILED THAT THE COMPANY HAD LOANED MILLIONS TO NEUMANN AND OTHER EXECUTIVES.

AND, IN A MOVE THAT HAD WALL STREET SCRATCHING ITS HEAD,
NUEMANN CASHED OUT $700 MILLION FROM THE COMPANY AHEAD OF ITS IPO.

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THE DAY AFTER WE-WORK FILED ITS I-P-O PAPERWORK, MORGAN STANLEY BACKED OUT OF THE DEAL.

THEN THERE WAS THE OUTCRY AFTER WEWORK OFFICIALLY REBRANDED AS ‘THE WE COMPANY,’ AND PAID CEO NEUMANN ALMOST $6 MILLION FOR TRADEMARK RIGHTS AS A MANAGING MEMBER OF WE HOLDINGS, LLC. NEUMANN EVENTUALLY RETURNED THAT MONEY TO THE COMPANY.

BY SEPTEMBER 9, 2019, WEWORK’S BIGGEST SHAREHOLDER, SOFTBANK, ASKED TO PUT THE IPO ON HOLD. AND BY SEPTEMBER 16 THE IPO WAS OFFICIALLY DELAYED.
JUST TWO DAYS AFTER THAT, AN EXPOSE FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DETAILED NEUMANN’S HARD-PARTYING BEHAVIOR AND MANAGEMENT STYLE. BY SEPTEMBER 24, NEUMANN HAD STEPPED DOWN FROM HIS ROLE AS WEWORK CEO.

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ONE MONTH LATER THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTED THAT SOFTBANK WILL TAKE CONTROL OF WEWORK, AND FOUNDER ADAM NEUMANN WILL STEP DOWN FROM THE BOARD.
FOR THOSE KEEPING SCORE–THAT MEANS THE COMPANY WENT FROM I-P-O TO BAILOUT IN 2 MONTHS.
NEWS BROKE A FEW WEEKS AGO THAT THE COMPANY COULD PRIVATELY RAISE CAPITAL AGAIN, OR GO PUBLIC VIA A SPAC DEAL THAT WOULD VALUE THE COMPANY AT AROUND 10-BILLION-DOLLARS, AND THE WALL STREET JOURNAL THIS WEEK REPORTING THAT NUEMANN WILL GET AN EXTRA 50-MILLION-DOLLAR PAYOUT IN A SETTLEMENT WITH SOFTBANK

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST–
WE’VE GOT CHINESE STARBUCKS RIVAL LUCKIN COFFEE.

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FOUNDED IN 2017 WITH A COFFEE SHOP IN BEIJING, THE COMPANY REACHED UNICORN STATUS WITHIN A YEAR.
WITH A VALUATION OF 2.9-BILLION U-S- DOLLARS AND A PLAN TO OPEN 25-HUNDRED NEW CAFES, LUCKIN FILED FOR A U-S IPO ON THE NASDAQ.
ON ITS FIRST DAY OF TRADING, MAY 17, 2019, SHARES OF THE COMPANY SOARED.

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IN JANUARY 2020, THE COMPANY RAISED 865-MILLION-DOLLARS TO FUEL ITS EXPANSION PLANS. AT THIS POINT, THE COMPANY CLAIMED IT WAS THE BIGGEST COFFEE CHAIN IN CHINA. THEN, THINGS TURNED SOUTH.
IN FEBRUARY OF 2020, MUDDY WATERS RESEARCH SAID THEY WOULD SHORT LUCKINS STOCK AFTER RECEIVING AN ANYNOMOUS REPORT CONTAINING ALLEGATIONS OF INFLATED NUMBERS.
THE COMPANY LAUNCHED AN INTERNAL PROBE INTO ITS ALLEGED FABRICATED REVENUE IN APRIL, AND THAT SENT SHARES PLUMMETING. THE COMPANY LOST ALMOST 5-BILLION IN MARKET VALUE.

COME MAY, LUCKIN FIRED ITS CO-FOUNDER AND CEO AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR THEIR ROLES IN THE FRAUD.
BY MAY 15, NASDAQ HAD ALERTED THE COMPANY OF ITS PLANS TO DELIST ITS SHARES FROM THE EXCHANGE.
BY JUNE 30, TRADING OF LUCKIN’S SHARES WERE SUSPENDED.
AND BY JULY, THE COMPANY CONFIRMED HUNDREDS-OF-THOUSANDS-OF-DOLLARS WORTH OF FRAUD.
AND JUST THIS MONTH, THE EMBATTLED CHINESE COFFEE CHAIN FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION.