F is for Fredrick

Flo Rida signed with a tiny energy drink company whose stock sold for about 50 cents. Nine years later a jury said it owed him $82.6 million. In 2014, Celsius was losing money and couldn't afford his usual endorsement fee. So instead of a big check, it offered stock: 250,000 shares up front, plus bonus shares if sales hit set targets. Flo Rida put the drink in his music videos, wore it on a racing suit, and handed out cans from his Hummer outside Miami Heat games. By April 2021 Celsius stock was at $57.30. Flo Rida demanded the bonus shares. Celsius said the targets were never met and that its explosive growth came after his deal had ended. So he sued. In the video below, he explains on the stand why he insisted on stock. He'd already missed one fortune: "I missed out on the deal that I wanted that was with Uber. Early on they had offered me rides... And I'm a guy who has a lot of flashy cars, so I didn't really pay attention to it." This time he wanted it all: "I'm going to need some equity, I'm going to need some royalties, I'm going to need some stock and I'm going to need some upfront money." On January 18, 2023, a Broward County jury awarded him $82,640,450. An appeals court later upheld that Celsius broke the deal, but ordered the damages recalculated using the stock price at the time of the breach. So did Flo Rida earn every share by building a brand from nothing, or did a rapper cash in on growth he had nothing to do with?