Sleepless nights for MyPillow founder Mike Lindell as he loses $200 million after sales dropped a staggering 95% since major retailers including Walmart pulled his products over his election claims - and company is forced to auction off equipment
- MyPillow is auctioning more than 800 items and subleasing manufacturing space after retailers cancelled the company
- CEO Mike Lindell said the company had lost $100 million since Walmart pulled his products in 2022
- It will now focus on smaller retailers and its online store which Lindell described as a mini Amazon
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has accused major retailers of being terrified of cancel culture after revealing his company has lost a staggering $100 million since Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond pulled his products over his false election claims.
The polarizing MAGA supporter told Dailymail.com in a phone interview that MyPillow made $110 million a year in gross sales prior to being cancelled but now makes only about $5 million - a whopping 95% drop.
The businessman is now being forced to auction off manufacturing equipment and sublease unused industrial space after distributors tore up contracts due to his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
The 800 items listed to go under the hammer on July 18 through K-Bid Online Auctions include sewing machines, industrial fabric spreaders, forklifts, desks and chairs, among other equipment used to make pillows.
While he hopes retailers would come back on board, Lindell has not heard back and he believes that it is out of fear of cancel culture.
'We've reached out, they won't answer our calls,' he said to DailyMail.com on Tuesday. 'They're very afraid of cancel culture.'
'We have all this retail stuff. The retailers have abandoned us. What are we supposed to do, everybody? Just paperweights there? No, we are auctioning it off,' Lindell said in a Facebook livestream on Monday.
'Before they did this to MyPillow, we were so big that we needed like four times of the equipment we had right now to make retail packaging, to make the retail pillows.
'So my guys said, ''Hey, can we get rid of some of this stuff and sublease part of that building?'' Which we said, ''Fine''.'
Lindell said MyPillow, which celebrates its 20 year anniversary this year with 80 million pillows sold since its establishment, was struggling with a $100 million loss a year due to retailers dropping the company.
Major retailers and shopping centers were responsible for about 45 percent of sales, he said.
Lindell said MyPillow can expect an $100 million loss in sales every year going forward after originally only expecting to lose $65 million the year his company was boycotted by retailers over his claims of electoral fraud.
The CEO said retailers were not angry with his election messaging, they were just fearful of how it would impact their businesses, despite MyPillow being a top-selling product in many stores.
He was sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion in a defamation lawsuit, in response to his continued claim that the election was stolen, and Dominion's machines switched Donald Trump's votes.
Lindell admitted that when Walmart cancelled its contract with MyPillow in 2022, it was crippling.
'Walmart hurt us the most because it was our biggest retailer and it hurt my employees the most,' he said. 'It's sad is what it is.'
He raged at executives at the time, blasting one of Walmart's executive vice presidents for 'canceling' him because they said his items 'no longer rate above a four' with customers.
The businessman said he was so furious he slammed his computer shut and ended the call.
'Walmart was last to cancel us,' he said. 'That one hit home.'
But taking MyPillow off the shelves hurt the retailers also, Lindell argued.
It also hurt Walmart, he said, as MyPillow was consistently ranked the number one product in the $60 and $50 product categories.
Lindell said that without adjusting accordingly, his company wouldn't have survived this loss of revenue.
'There is no other company that could've survived this,' he said.
Lindell, who overcome a crack-cocaine addiction before building the MyPillow empire from scratch in 2004 and achieving incredible success, said 'faith' and good decisions have helped him survive this.
'I was able to adjust - but if it was any other company, they would not have,' he added.
While Lindell hopes to be back on shelves, he has accepted the strong likelihood that that will never happen.
'We can only hope to make more in other ways to market,' he said, 'until they come back.'
'I've got to come to the (realization) that they'll never let us back. I have to make my business model without them,' he said.
MyPillow auctions off its equipment after losing $100 million
Founder and CEO Mike Lindell, 62, is auctioning more than 800 items and subleasing manufacturing space, after retailers cancelled the company due to his election claims.
