E617: Tai Lopez Charged With Running Ecom Ponzi Scheme
The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast
Release Date: 09/29/2025
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info_outlineDave discusses the recent SEC allegations against Tai Lopez, who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme through his acquisition of legacy retail brands. He dives into the details of the accusations, the flaws in Lopez's business model, and comparisons to other entrepreneurs like Alex Hormozi. What happens to Tai Lopez now? Will he go to jail?
Today's episode is sponsored by Sellerboard.
Sellerboard helps users track sales, refunds and fees in real time, and even counts your indirect expenses in final profit. Beyond analytics, Sellerboard also streamlines operations with smart portfolios for PPC, inventory forecasting & management and more! Try Sellerboard free for 2 months — no credit card required. Just go to sellerboard.com/ecomcrew and get clarity on your margins today.
Tai Lopez is one of the biggest "entrepreneur turned influencers" in the industry, with 2.5 million subscribers on Youtube, 3 million on Instagram, and 1.1 million on Tiktok.
The SEC has come forward with allegations against Tai Lopez and his business partner, Alex Mehr, for running a $112 Million Ponzi Scheme and defrauding their investors.
A Ponzi Scheme, by definition, is a "form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors."
That means that Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr are allegedly misallocating funds to provide an illusion of great profit margins, leading to more investors buying in on their alleged "success" when they were just using that money to pay their first few investors.
Timestamps
- 00:00 - Introduction to Tai Lopez's Controversy
- 03:01 - Allegations of a Ponzi Scheme
- 05:47 - Business Model Flaws and Comparisons
- 08:56 - Public Perception and Future Implications
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Until next time, happy selling!