Trump-backing pillow entrepreneur who set up ‘prove me wrong’ contest must pay $5m to man who did

Mike Lindell, a Donald Trump ally and the founder of the MyPillow firm, has been forced to pay $5 million (£4m) after losing a bet that no one could prove one of his election fraud claims wrong.

At a cyber symposium in 2021, Mr Lindell claimed he had data showing that China interfered in the 2020 vote, which saw Joe Biden defeat Mr Trump, and said he would pay anyone who could prove the material was not from that US election.

Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert, entered the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge and successfully showed that a tranche of internet traffic data Mr Lindell claimed was evidence of Chinese meddling had nothing to do with that 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 Lindell provides unequivocally does not contain packet 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 up, Mr Zeidman turned to the arbitrators hired by the venue to resolve any contest-related disputes in the rules Mr Lindell published when he made his offer.

In its decision, the American Arbitration Association said he proved that Mr Lindell’s material “unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data” and ordered MyPillow to pay Mr Zeidman the full amount within 30 days.

‘They made a terribly wrong decision!’

In a statement to The Washington Post, Brian Glasser, Mr Zeidman’s attorney, said the panel’s decision stood as a warning to others who had made wild allegations about election fraud.

“I think the arbitrators thought it important that these claims be vetted, because they’ve done great harm to our country,” he said. “The lawsuit and verdict mark another important moment in the ongoing proof that the 2020 election was legal and valid, and the role of cybersecurity in ensuring that integrity.”

Mr Lindell said in a deposition as part of the case that he believed if he put up $5 million “it would get news, which it did”. The 61-year-old businessman said in a text to The Post: “They made a terribly wrong decision! This will be going to court!”

The decision marks another blow to the MyPillow CEO’s credibility. After Mr Trump’s election defeat, he played a significant role in supporting and financing the former president’s attempts to overturn the result, spreading disproven conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud.

Mr Lindell has also faced defamation suits from Dominion Voting Systems and others related to his election claims.