Trump-supporting pillow entrepreneur who ran 'prove me wrong' contest must pay $5 million to person who did it

Mike Lindell's company, Lindell Management, refused to pay. Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP

Mike Lindell, Donald Trump ally and founder of MyPillow, was forced to pay $5m (£4m) after he lost a bet that no one could prove one of his claims wrong about electoral fraud.

At the 2021 cyber symposium, Mr. Lindell said he had data showing that China interfered in the 2020 vote that defeated Joe Biden and Trump, and said he would pay anyone who could prove the materials didn't refer to that US election.

Robert Seidman, a computer forensics expert, entered the Prove Mike Wrong contest and successfully showed that some of Lindell's Internet traffic data is proof of Chinese interference in this election.

In a report submitted as part of the contest, the 63-year-old Trump voter from Nevada wrote: «I have proven that the data that Lindell provides is unequivocally free of batch data of any kind and does not contain any information related to the November 2020 Election.» .

But when Mr. Lindell's company, Lindell Management, refused to pay, Mr. Zeidman turned to arbitrators hired by the venue to resolve any contest-related disputes in accordance with the rules published by Mr. -Mr. Lindell when he proposed.

In its decision, the American Arbitration Association said it had proven that Mr. Lindell's material «definitely does not reflect the November 2020 election» and ordered MyPillow to pay Mr. Zeidman the full amount within 30 days.

» They made a horribly wrong decision. !'

In a statement to The Washington Post, Brian Glasser, Mr. Zeidman's attorney, said the commission's decision was a warning to others making wild allegations of electoral fraud.

«I think the arbitrators felt it was important that these claims should be verified because they did a lot of harm to our country,» he said. «The trial and verdict marks another important point in the ongoing proof that the 2020 election was legitimate and valid, and the role of cybersecurity in ensuring that integrity.»

Mr Lindell said in testimony in The fact is that he believed that if he invested $ 5 million, «he will receive news, which happened.» The 61-year-old businessman wrote in a post to The Post: “They made a horribly wrong decision! The case will go to court!”

This decision is yet another blow to the credibility of the MyPillow CEO. Since Trump's electoral defeat, he has played a significant role in supporting and funding the former president's efforts to overturn the results by spreading debunked conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud.

Mr. Lindell has also faced libel suits from Dominion Voting . Systems and other related to his campaign statements.