“Sell the company for a couple billion dollars and then go work at Wal-Mart for three months. “Like, that’d be nice,” Bilzerian said, suddenly waxing philosophical. That was one of the milestones that I had.” (Assuming they all don’t have one already.) “That made a lot of (expletive) noise,” he observed.įrom here, “I think we sell the company in the next couple years,” he added, guessing that a big tobacco company, wise to the trend, will be willing to pay a premium for a vaporizer brand. And if that was the goal, it was successful.

“Most companies lose money when they start.”Īs for all the profligate spending-the yachts, this and that, you know the deal-Bilzerian chalked that up to marketing.

“Uber lost $5 billion in a quarter,” he said. Those are losses Bilzerian likes to put in perspective for the “people who don’t understand too much about business,” he said. Ignite hasn’t turned a profit, but lost only $1.3 million Canadian in the first six months of 2021-down from more than $15 million the year before. “I mean, nicotine is (expletive) crushing it.”īilzerian didn’t talk numbers with Bensinger, but according to filings on the Canadian Securities Exchange, where Ignite is listed, things are turning around.

With most of his fans in markets where marijuana still isn’t legal, shifting from weed to nicotine vapes, alcohol, and energy drinks-vices that are legal almost everywhere in the world-“was a no brainer,” he said. It’s like impossible to compete with that.”Įighty percent of Bilzerian’s social media following is overseas, he said. “I mean, it’s like, the way they let these black market people do it and operate with impunity while people are trying to do this legitimately. “I’m so (expletive) happy to be out of cannabis to be honest with you,” he told Bensinger. And he isn’t looking to get back anytime soon. Singing a song familiar to most legitimate marijuana businesses, Bilzerian says he got killed by the illicit market. (Photo by Randall Michelson/Getty Images for Ignite International, Ltd., Alister, and BlitzBet) Getty Images for Ignite International, Ltd., Alister, and BlitzBet sponsored by Ignite International, Ltd., Alister, and BlitzBet on Octoin Los Angeles, California. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 24: Sponsors are seen during Dan Bilzerian's Halloween Party.

Dan bilzerian