Selected quotes from Lawrence Meyers
UPDATE — In December 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally charged Lawrence Meyers with fraud and illegal touting in connection with work he performed in 2015 and 2016. Read more here: Our Troll is Charged with Fraud
Lawrence Myers is not an investor in Legion M, but a PR operative that has been an extremely vocal critic of the company. Since we first encountered him in December of 2018 he has harassed us more than 200 times across our socials, funding platform, email, and press articles. He’s gone to such great lengths (and used such questionable tactics) that we began to suspect he might be a paid troll. If you’d like to see the background on how we came to that conclusion, please check out this blog post.
We respect Mr. Meyers’ right to his own opinion, and believe that contrary opinions are an important part of any investment analysis. But when finding information online, it’s important to consider the source. Thanks to research performed by a Legion M volunteer, we’ve been able to compile an assortment of quotes from Mr. Meyers’ previous writings about companies (including Netflix, Tesla, Facebook, Amazon and Uber) with the sort of transformational business models we are trying to build.
You can draw your own conclusions — the words below speak for themselves. All we can say is that given Mr. Meyers’ history, we’re honored to join the pantheon of companies he has predicted will fail.
NETFLIX
“Netflix is really nothing more than a long con at this point. The business model is not sustainable, and it presents no viable threat [sic] the studios.”
Netflix Is The Studios Pawn, Not The Opposing Queen
Breitbart.com, February 8, 2013
Note: If you’d purchased Netflix stock on the day his article was published and held it through June 16, 2021, you’d have a return of about 19x.
“Much as we all enjoy Netflix’s programming and service, and much as we’d like it to supplant Hollywood’s liberal-heavy content, the bad news is that Netflix is not going to survive in the long run.”
Netflix’s China Dream Is Dead
Townhall.com, Dec 18, 2015
“Valuation alone should cause one to sell, but believing that Netflix is some global streaming powerhouse, or will ever become one, should be the nail in the coffin.”
Netflix Doesn’t Stand A Chance Internationally
Townhall.com, January8, 2016
“Sell Netflix stock now.”
Why You Should Sell Netflix and Tesla Now
Wyattresearch.com, March 09, 2016
TESLA
“Tesla stock is not a good long-term investment.”
Tesla Stock: A Momentum Trade, Not an Investment
InvestorPlace.com, December 22, 2014
Note: If you’d purchased Tesla stock on the day his article was published and held it through June 16, 2021, you’d have a return of nearly 14x.
“Unfortunately, Tesla cars are never going to sell in volume.”
A Case to Short Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Tesla
TheStreet.com, December 26, 2015
“The stock trades at $202, giving Tesla a market valuation of $26.5 billion. That valuation is based on nothing. Nada. Zero. Because that’s how much money Tesla actually makes.”
Why You Should Sell Netflix and Tesla Now
WyattResearch.com, March 9, 2016
Note: As of June 16, 2021, Tesla’s market cap is over $582 billion.
“It appears that Wall Street is finally awakening to the scam that Tesla stock is…”
Tesla’s Stock Crashes as Wall Street Predicts Armageddon
CCN.com, May 22, 2019
FACEBOOK AND AMAZON
”In sizing up companies, billionaire Mark Cuban's [sic] asks the question, "what problem does an organization solve?" What problem does Facebook solve? None.”
A Case to Short Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Tesla
TheStreet.com, December 26, 2015
Note: If you’d purchased Facebook stock on the day his article was published and held it through June 16, 2021, you’d have a return of about 3x.
“Investors should wake up and sell their profits -- and take the stock down significantly. Short Amazon Now.”
A Case to Short Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Tesla
TheStreet.com, December 26, 2015
Note: If you’d purchased Amazon stock on the day his article was published and held it through June 16, 2021, you’d have a return of about 5X.
UBER
In 2015 and early 2016, Mr. Meyers wrote a series of articles supporting the value of taxi medallions in the face of disruption caused by the rise of Uber and Lyft. Ultimately, history proved him wrong. Below are a few examples of his quotes — for a more extensive list click here.
“Uber will indeed implode.”
Comment on article: Medallion Financial 10-Q: Asset Valuation Keys Q2 Earnings
SeekingAlpha.com, August 25, 2015
“Ultimately, [Uber] simply cannot compete with the New York City street hail.”
Cartoon Illustrates How Rideshare Is Headed for Disaster
InsuranceNewsNet.com, August 25, 2015
”Uber is fool’s gold for the average investor”
Microsoft-Uber: Easy Money for MSFT, Not For You
InvestorPlace.com - August 4, 2015
“This begs the question, ‘just how stupid are investors?’ ”
Uber’s Death by A Thousand Cuts
Townhall.com, July 2, 2015
”The free-for-all will come to an end, and the $50 billion valuation will come crashing down”
Another Reason to Avoid the Uber IPO
InvestorPlace.com - August 17, 2015
Note: As of the date of this post, Uber had a $90 billion market cap.
FORCEFIELD ENERGY
In late 2014, Mr. Meyers wrote detailed articles recommending investors consider purchasing the stock of a company called ForceField Energy. His recommendation was based on his own research, analysis, and personal discussions with the Executive Chairman. Less than 6 months later, that same Executive Chairman was arrested on charges of orchestrating schemes to inflate the company’s stock price (including concealing kickbacks to stock promoters who touted the stock). Shortly after the arrest the stock completely collapsed, causing investors to lose $131 million. Lawrence Meyers’ articles have since been removed, but can still be found in the Internet Archive.
“ForceField Energy May Be The Ten-Bagger I’ve Been Looking For”
BloggerNews.net (via the Internet archive)
November 6, 2014
To be clear — we are not alleging that Mr. Meyers was one of the promoters who was illegally paid to promote the stock. It’s possible he was simply hoodwinked by unscrupulous parties who were arrested. However, in reading his article, it’s striking to see the exact same sort of language, logic and detailed analysis Mr. Meyers uses in his arguments against Legion M used to build a case for a company that collapsed just a few months later. We believe this is an important data point for investors to consider when evaluating his statements.
TAXI MEDALLION ARTICLES
Contrary to Mr. Meyers’ assertions that “NYC Medallion Values Are Not Falling,” the average price of a Medallion was clearly plummeting. The red lines depict the time period Lawrence Meyers wrote the articles listed below.
Source of chart: Mark J. Perry of the American Enterprise Institute
Between January 2015 and January 2016, the value of taxi medallions was in a state of steep decline due to disruptive competitive pressures from ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. During this period, Mr. Meyers wrote a series of articles attacking rideshare companies, and defending the value of taxi medallions and the companies that provided loans for purchasing them. Many of these articles feature detailed analysis and predictions about the resilience of taxi medallion prices and the demise of ridesharing companies like Uber.
History has proven these predictions to be wrong. Today Uber has a market cap of ~$90 billion, while the value of a taxi medallion has plummeted. For more information on what was happening during the time period Mr. Meyers was writing these articles, check out the articles below:
New York Times: ‘They Were Conned’: How Reckless Loans Devastated a Generation of Taxi Drivers.
Fox News.com: String of New York taxi driver suicides raise concerns as Uber, Lyft proliferate
Townhall.com: The Collapse of the Taxi-Medallion Shakedown
While Legion M and Uber have completely different models and businesses, we are similar in that both of us are attempting something that has never been done before in an industry dominated by well-financed, well-established players. And while nobody yet knows how Legion M’s story will end, we believe history will show Lawrence Meyers is as wrong about Legion M as he was about Uber and taxi medallions.
ARTICLES FROM LAWRENCE MEYERS REGARDING
TAXI MEDALLIONS AND THE RIDESHARE INDUSTRY
“Ride-share apps are not a material threat to the long-term value of taxi medallions”
Taxi Medallion Financial Industry Grossly Undervalued: Uber Threat Vastly Overstated
SeekingAlpha.com - Jan 2015
”the value of these medallions will remain high”
Medallion Financial: 10% Dividend, 50% Upside
(Note: This article was deleted about a year after publication.)
InvestorPlace (via Internet Archive) - Jan 2015
“ride-sharing apps like Uber present no material threat to the value of taxi medallions.”
No Long-Term Threat to Taxi Medallion Lenders
(Note: This article quotes from a report authored by Lawrence Meyers)
ABFJournal.com - Jan 2015
“I have repeatedly stated that no matter how bad business is, owner-drivers will not walk away from their loans.”
NYC Data Proves Taxi Medallion Resilience; Rideshare Effect Negligible
SeekingAlpha.com - Feb 2015
”Fact: NYC Medallion Values Are Not Falling”
Facts That Taxi Medallion Critics Won’t Address
(Note: The article above was deleted about a year after publication.)
BloggerNews.net (via Internet Archive) - Jun 2015
”Any hope that taxi medallion owner-operators or passive investors would fail to make loan payments on their medallions has been laughed aside”
Uber’s Death by A Thousand Cuts
Townhall.com - Jul 2015
“The taxi medallion industry has effectively neutralized Uber’s effects“
Big Taxi Defeats Uber In NYC
DailyCaller.com - Jul 2015
“The medallion will have value, and value above the industry average loan of $500,000”
Once Again, NYC Data Shows Resilience Of Taxi Medallions
SeekingAlpha.com - Aug 2015
“taxi medallions – particularly in New York City – will win this race”
Cartoon Illustrates How Rideshare Is Headed for Disaster
PRNewswire.com - Aug 2015
”the death of the NY taxi medallion, and its lenders, has been greatly exaggerated”
Uber Meets Taxis’ Immovable Object: Market Equilibrium
Observer.com - Sep 2015
”Uber is nothing more than a dispatcher for gypsy cabs. That’s all it is.”
Why Uber Faces a Rough Road Ahead
Observer.com - Jan 2016
”the bloom is off the rose for Uber”
GOOGL Gets Into Ride-Hailing Despite Uber Investment
InvestorPlace.com - May 2016
Here are additional articles regarding taxi medallions and/or Uber that were written by Lawrence Meyers, or that contain quotes from him:
Uber’s Fate Is In The Hands of 12 People
Townhall.com - May 2015
NYC UberX Drivers Lose 68% of Revenue to Expenses
PRNewswire.com - Jun 2015
Microsoft-Uber: Easy Money for MSFT, Not For You
InvestorPlace.com - Aug 2015
Uber Drivers, Beware
LifeZette.com - Aug 2015
Another Reason to Avoid the Uber IPO
InvestorPlace.com - Aug 2015
There Is No Way Uber Drivers Make More Than NYC Cabbies
InvestorPlace.com - Sep 2015
Has Uber Already Peaked?
(Note: this article was not written by Lawrence Meyers but contains quotes from him.)
LATimes.com - Sep 2015
Westlake Financial: Uber’s Shady New Partner
Observer.com - Nov 2015
The One Chart That Should Worry Uber and Hurts the Taxi Medallion Short-Selling Thesis
TheStreet.com - Dec 2015
Have any feedback, corrections, or additions to this list? Send an email to team@legionm.com.