An Influencer's False Promise to Make His Followers Rich

一个网红虚假承诺让他的追随者致富

The Journal.

2026-04-18

22 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Get your tickets to our L.A. live show here! In 2019, influencer Tai Lopez made a pitch to his social media followers: by buying up distressed retail brands like Radio Shack and Pier 1 out of bankruptcy, they could all get rich. But as WSJ’s Suzanne Kapner reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Lopez of running a “Ponzi-like scheme” through his company, Retail Ecommerce Ventures. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening/Viewing: - Influencer Arielle Charnas’s Fashion Fail - How a Miami Couple Used Empty Mansions to Pocket Millions Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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单集文稿 ...

  • Hey everyone, it's Jess.

  • And Ryan.

  • We have a live event coming up that you do not want to miss. It 's in Los Angeles on Tuesday,

  • April 28th at the El Rey Theater.

  • We'll have Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated actor Riz Ahmed.

  • Who was in the Star Wars movie Rogue One.

  • And TV and film producer Franklin Leonard.

  • We'll be talking about the future of Hollywood and we'll have a few other surprises.

  • Tickets are still available.

  • Grab yours now via the link in our show notes.

  • See you April 28th.

  • Our colleague Suzanne Kapner covers the retail industry.

  • And in 2021, a new company wanted to picture a story.

  • The company was called Rev, which stood for Retail E-Commerce Ventures.

  • And they had reached out to me saying, hey, you know, talk to us.

  • We have this great business model.

  • This company was buying up all these, you know,

  • defunct retailers who had filed for bankruptcy, who were struggling to survive.

  • Radio Shack, Pier One, the list goes on.

  • Dress Barn, Modell Sporting Goods.