The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios
17 April 2026
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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