Mike Lindell, the infamous head of the MyPillow corporation, has made a name for himself in America, and not for the reasons he would like to. Before Donald Trump’s presidency, the CEO was a fairly unknown name outside of business circles, and now he’s become synonymous with the failed former President, as well as the financial issues that Lindell is enduring because of him.
A Famous Trump Supporter
Mike Lindell is one of the more famous supporters of Donald Trump, especially for his actions following the 2020 election. Once a financial supporter of Trump, Lindell turned everything around and became a staunch supporter of Trump’s claims of election fraud.
Lindell helped to fund some of the various lawsuits that took place across the country in relation to the 2020 election, and spread various disproved conspiracy theories about widespread election fraud.
Remaining in Politics
Lindell has remained in the political sphere since Trump left office in early 2021, allegedly at the behest of the former president. In 2022, Lindell considered running for governor of Minnesota against Democratic incumbent, Tim Walz, after stating that he was nearly certain about running for the seat in July of 2020.
Ultimately, Lindell neither ran for the seat, nor provided an explanation for why he didn’t ultimately orchestrate a campaign for the gubernatorial position. That wasn’t the only campaign that Lindell ran, or almost ran, for a significant political position, though. In November of 2022, Lindell announced that he would be running for the Chair of the Republican National Committee, a campaign that he lost after securing only 4 votes.
Financial Support for Politicians as Well
Lindell has used his money to contribute to the political arena, as well. In April of 2022, Lindel mentioned that he had donated as much as $800,000 to a legal defense fund for Tina Peters, who was then a Republican candidate for Colorado Secretary of State.
The declaration raised questions regarding the legality of such a donation, particularly for an aspiring political figure. There was an investigation into the fund after complaints about lack of donor transparency in the state were raised, though no further information was released regarding the issue.
Challenging Lindell’s Personal Wealth
Needless to say, Lindell’s extensive contributions – both financial and personal – to various political campaigns at the behest of Donald Trump and more, have been challenging for the CEO. Politics is expensive, far more so that many understand, and Lindell has slowly been suffering under the weight of his own support.
This is especially true for Lindell, who is not only struggling with the various political contributions that he has chosen to make over the years, but also the lawsuits that have been leveraged against him because of it. Lindell’s promotion of the Big Lie has led to him being sued by various states and jurisdictions, as well as big companies like Dominion and Smartmatic for defamation.
A Financial Bind
These various cases against the former billionaire have left Lindell in a significant financial bind. In 2023 Lindell admitted that he and his company no longer had any funds with which to pay the lawyers and legal teams representing him in the 2020 election-related defamation cases.
This admission came after the lawyers informed federal judges that Lindel owed them millions of dollars in unpaid legal fees, after which they filed to drop Lindell as a client. He had allegedly stopped paying invoices on time during 2023, and continuing to represent Lindell could threaten the survival of their businesses.
A $5 Million Judgment
Lindell’s financial woes have been further compounded by other poor choices that he made. For instance, a $5 million judgment against Lindell was recently upheld, after a contest that Lindell held where he challenged internet users to “prove election fraud wrong.”
Lindell was ordered to pay the stated $5 million prize to Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert, after he soundly debunked Lindell’s claims of election fraud with the data that Lindell himself provided. Ziedman, in a statement, said that he didn’t believe that he would ultimately be paid, but the debt is against Lindell regardless.
MyPillow Suffering Further
Now, Lindell’s company has officially been tossed out into the cold because of its CEO’s poor financial choices. A judge recently ruled to evict MyPillow from a warehouse in Shakopee after the landlord filed a lawsuit which claimed that the company was at least $200,000 behind on rent payments.
The eviction lawsuit, filed by First Industrial, LP claimed that the company had defaulted on four months of rent in the last year, and had also not paid rent in February or March of 2024. In total, the real estate company claimed that it was owed $217,489.74.
Following Statements of “Decimation”
This lawsuit follows statements that Lindell made back in October, claiming that MyPillow had been “decimated” by the defamation lawsuits that Dominion and Smartmatic had filed against him and other pro-Trump figures.
He dug in, stating, “We’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars.” He further claimed that he was being persecuted by the public and the companies, merely because he was reasonably questioning the security of American elections.
Lindell Continuing on in His Foolishness
The financial challenges and lack of legal representation have not prevented Lindell from engaging in foolish lawsuits, though. Recently, Lindell took his quest to get his cell phone back all the way up to the Supreme Court. His phone was seized in 2022 by the feds, as a part of a warrant in an identity theft and conspiracy case.
In that case, it was revealed by the authorities that Lindell was not a target, but a subject. That means that he could have had information regarding the case, but was not one of the suspects of the case. It’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will take up the case, but it appears that Lindell is determined to be heard, regardless of whether it’s financially wise to continue along the legal path.
Yet Another Social and Financial Blow
The eviction of MyPillow from the Shakopee warehouse is yet another social, political, and financial blow against Lindell, who now has to seek out another warehouse to operate MyPillow out of.
MyPillow does have a secondary warehouse in the area that holds some stock, but the recent eviction has raised questions on whether the rent on that warehouse will be paid. Lindell and his company had allegedly already vacated the warehouse ahead of their eviction, but lawyers for First Industrial said that they wanted to do things “by the book.”
A Statement from First Industrial
Sara Filo, an attorney for First Industrial, made a statement regarding the eviction. “At this point, there’s a representation that no further payment is going to be made under the lease, so we’d like to go ahead with finding a new tenant,” she said.
This announcement comes after months of financial trouble for MyPillow. Months of paying for lawyers in these frivolous lawsuits, as well as the bad press that has come from the election denier movement, have led Lindell to massive amounts of debt in the name of his company. In March of 2023, Lindell admitted that he had to borrow $10 million in cash in 2022 in order to keep MyPillow afloat.
Doubling Down
In spite of this, Lindell has insisted that MyPillow is not “going under,” and has continued to double down on the claims that have seen him sued for more than $1 billion.
His actions, as well as poor financial decisions, have seen one of Lindell’s banks, the Minnesota Bank and Trust, describe him as a “reputation risk” and cut ties with him. Additionally, Walmart pulled MyPillow from its stores as a result of Lindell’s actions, dealing a heavy blow to the company.
Consequences, Consequences
It’s unfortunately clear that Lindell is going to continue to push false claims about the 2020 election in service to Donald Trump. It isn’t clear how far he’ll go before he folds, though, and ultimately declares bankruptcy, as it seems clear that he will eventually do.
Lindell is only one of Trump’s supporters who is seeing consequences for their support of the former president, though he appears to be suffering a significant amount. It’s the result of his poor decisions, unfortunately, and it’s up to Lindell to decide when enough is finally going to be enough.
