Dan Bilzerian's Company Sued Over Half-Million Dollar Debt

A Ignite, Dan Bilzerian's cannabis company, is facing a lawsuit by the KushCo Holdings, advanced to Cannabis Law Report. KushCo alleges that Ignite bought it hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products and didn't pay the bill.

On September 24, 2020, KushCo revealed that Ignite had debt amounting to half a million dollars and the company “failed and refused” to pay. Ignite is a cannabis company from Instagram celebrity Dan Bilzerian, which is part of the Lifestyle segment, but for which the summer and COVID-19 presented several challenges.

Dan Bilzerian is known for his eccentric lifestyle. He has over 30k followers on Instagram

In July Ignite already had announced losses of US$50 million and the company's share value fell from US$1,44 to about half its value in most recent trading. The company's difficulties are now compounded by the cessation of your distribution agreement with the CannMart and with the lawsuit now brought by KushCo Holdings, relating to non-payment.

Financial difficulties forced Bilzerian's company to suspend the lease of his mansion (which was rented and paid for by the company) in Los Angeles, after a former director of the board of directors considered the company's expenses in the celebrity's personal expenses. However, the celebrity remains confident that the company's liquidity is not at stake.

“All the dumb ass journalists patiently waiting for Ignite to go bankrupt” pic.twitter.com/pTm4s5H78p

- Dan Bilzerian (@DanBilzerian) October 20, 2020

Administration turmoil – 4 presidents in one year

Dan Bilzerian at his company's plantation. Instagram photo.

The Bilzerian company also faces some turmoil in the company's management, having had four presidents in just one year. The latest was John Schaefer, who worked at cannabis company MedMen and Bayer/Monsanto., having assumed in September, the position of vice president of Ignite.

According to his LinkedIn, Schaefer has been with Ignite for over a year, joining the company as COO in August 2019 following his stint at MedMen, which he left before the company imploded. Schaefer replaced Lester Lee, whose term as president lasted just three months, and remains on the company's board of directors. Lee took over to replace critic Curtis Heffernan, a former president of the same company.

Heffernan left the company on June 8 to “seek other opportunities”, as Ignite initially stated in a press release. If in a sense this expression is true, on the other hand Heffernan is currently entering a litigation process precisely against Ignite for, among other things, having fired him in retaliation for reacting to what he characterized as “irresponsible and savage spending” of Dan Bilzerian with the company's credit card. Heffernan didn't stay in the job for long, leaving 8 months after replacing Jim McCormick in November 2019.

Text of the lawsuit filed by KushCo against Ignite: