Tai Lopez

Taino Adrian Lopez (born 1977) is an American self-help guru. Lopez went viral in 2015 for an advertisement for his online business course, in which he showed off a Lamborghini while also chastising materialism in favor of knowledge.

In 2019, Lopez co-founded the investment firm and holding company Retail Ecommerce Ventures, which acquired intellectual property of brick-and-mortar stores on the decline. It would be subject in 2025 to a lawsuit by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission alleging it was a Ponzi scheme following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Early life and education Tai Lopez was born in Fullerton, California in 1977. His father, a body builder, was arrested for distributing cocaine. Lopez grew up in Long Beach, taking various odd jobs across the United States to earn money. From there, he worked in financial-services division of General Electric and had created several dating websites. One of the advertisements for the course, "Here In My Garage,” which extolled the virtues of knowledge over materialism while also showing off his Lamborghini, became viral, prompting parodies and spoofs.

During the late 2000s, Lopez met Alex Mehr, a co-founder of the dating app Zoosk. Mehr and Lopez initially collaborated by creating MentorBox, a book shipping club, in 2016,

Legal issues On September 22, 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ecommerce Ventures, alleging that the company was a $112 million Ponzi scheme. They stated that many of the companies run by Ecommerce Ventures were highly unprofitable, causing Lopez to use new investor's funds to pay older investors. They also alleged that Mehr and Lopez embezzled tens of millions of dollars for personal uses. By July 2026, the SEC reported that it had reached agreement with Mehr and Burkenroad on "all the core terms" and had "finalized a significant portion of the key elements" of a consent judgment with Lopez, with one issue outstanding. Any settlement would require approval by the SEC commissioners in Washington, D.C., and entry by the court.