Mike Lindell, the loudmouthed pillow tycoon who traded his gambling and crack cocaine addiction for membership in the delusional cult of MAGA, is spitting mad that a federal judge is forcing him to pay a $5 million arbitration award to a man who proved that Lindell's "election fraud" evidence was garbage.
The arbitration ruling stems from Lindell's "Prove Mike Wrong Challenge," launched during a baseless "Cyber Symposium" in August 2021. Lindell had offered a $5 million reward to anyone who could disprove the election data he presented, which he claimed showed interference in the election results. Software engineer Robert Zeidman took on the challenge, producing a report that "Proved Mike Wrong" by demonstrating that the data had no evidence of electoral fraud.
However, Lindell refused to acknowledge Zeidman as the winner, leading Zeidman to seek arbitration, as dictated by the contest rules. When the arbitration panel unanimously decided to award Zeidman the $5 million, Lindell again declined to pay, forcing Zeidman to sue him in federal court. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim affirmed the arbitrators' unanimous decision. True to his Mustelidae nature, Lindell has vowed to appeal the ruling.
The lawsuit is just one of many legal troubles Lindell faces. He is currently defending himself against defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, with claims against him totaling $1.3 billion.
As you might expect, Lindell is crying poor and blaming others for his own reckless behavior. MyPillow is struggling with lost sales and severed relationships, such as the ending of a significant advertising partnership with Fox News and the departure of two law firms previously representing Lindell. The financial downturn has led to MyPillow auctioning off company assets and pivoting towards a direct-to-consumer business model in response to retailers like Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond dropping his products.
From CBS News:
Lindell has conceded that he and MyPillow are struggling financially. Fox News, which had been one of his biggest advertising platforms, stopped running MyPillow commercials in January in a payment dispute. Two law firms that had been defending him against lawsuits by Dominion and Smartmatic quit last fall. He acknowledged that he owed them millions of dollars. "We're not able to pay — I can't borrow money to pay these attorneys. MyPillow can't pay because of what happened" with lost sales, Lindell said. "I have $10,000 to my name."
"This guy doesn't have a dime coming," Lindell said of the man he owes $5 million to.
