Exclusive | ShopHQ owner Manoj Bhargava accused of – Business News
A billionaire who famously fired a slew of senior writers at Sports Illustrated during a 2024 business dispute is drawing controversy again — as his decades-old buying vacation spot ShopHQ has been accused of promoting items with out paying suppliers, The Post has discovered.
Morris & David’s diamond bracelets, rings and necklaces have bought briskly on ShopHQ during the previous 12 months – however the New York City jeweler claims it hasn’t obtained a penny for the $200,000 in bling because of the company owned by Manoj Bhargava, the billionaire founder of 5-Hour Energy drinks.
ShopHQ suppliers allege that below Bhargava — whose company Arena Group did a stint as writer of Sports Illustrated wherein the Group gutted its workers and Bhargava was accused by the model’s owner of behaving like a “gangster” — the 35-year-old home buying TV community started stiffing them early final 12 months.
David Yeroshalmi (left) incessantly traveled to ShopHQ’s studios to hawk his designs on the air. Morris & David Jewelry
“I’ve been on the air with them for 25 years and had a good run with them making over $150 million in sales,” stated Samuel Behnam, owner of Samuel B, a jeweler based mostly in Great Neck, Long Island. “I have lost some money — $30,000. Right now, I have not done any new business with them.”
In what turned out to be the final days on cable-TV packages nationwide, ShopHQ final spring started shedding tons of of workers — and stopped paying its suppliers.
That was after ShopHQ had launched an ill-fated push online that included video-on-demand and stay streams hosted by influencers.
“Think awkward Instagrams mashed with shopping cart pop-ups,” Sophia Reynolds wrote on the weblog Business Divers.
“Social selling is brutal when you’re up against Amazon Lives and TikTok shops with Gen Z hosts who grew up on this stuff,” Reynolds wrote.
ShopHQ went darkish altogether in April.
Ahead of the shock shutdown, Yeroshalmi claims his business in New York City’s Diamond District had shipped some 500 baubles value almost $200,000 to ShopHQ’s Minnesota headquarters.
Bhargava’s holdings embody legacy media shops Parade, Men’s Journal and TheAvenue. Hindustan Times through Getty Images
Yeroshalmi had incessantly traveled to ShopHQ’s studios the place he went on the air to hawk Morris & David’s designs, however that every one stopped when ShopHQ abruptly went darkish.
For months thereafter, Yeroshalmi and his lawyer known as and emailed ShopHQ demanding fee to no avail for his handcrafted items.
Those have included a $9,995 tennis bracelet and $1,795 rings mounted with diamonds organized into shapes of hearts and clovers.
In October, Bhargava relaunched ShopHQ after transferring its control from a company he owns known as IV Media to the Arena Group — the company that had briefly revealed Sports Illustrated. Terms of the switch weren’t disclosed.
ShopHQ has ignored Yeroshalmi’s emails and calls requesting fee for $290K value of jewellery he shipped the company earlier this 12 months. Morris & David Jewelry
Arena Group and Bhargava didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The publicly traded company, which Bhargava controls with a 65% stake, additionally owns TheAvenue, Parade and Men’s Journal. It acquired ShopHQ for an undisclosed quantity.
IV Media shut down the company final 12 months with out submitting for chapter safety. Months later, ShopHQ was relaunched on the web and began promoting items again.
Those included jewellery made by Morris & David — which as of Tuesday had simply 14 items remaining on ShopHQ’s web site.
The catch: Yeroshalmi nonetheless hasn’t been paid for any of the merch that has been bought.
“I was very angry to see they are selling my goods but refusing to pay me,” Yeroshalmi stated. “I look at the site every day.”
Manoj Bhargava is a billionaire recognized for founding 5-Hour Energy drinks. Hindustan Times through Getty Images
ShopHQ’s relaunch with Arena Group is just not misplaced on Yersoshalmi.
“It’s the same owner,” he stated. “He’s just hiding from us.”
Bhargava “is a deep pocketed owner and obviously has the ability to come current on ShopHQ’s obligations if he wanted to,” stated distressed asset skilled Adam Stein Sapir. “There are consequences when word gets out in the vendor community.”
Now, Yeroshalmi’s 37-year-old business — whose purchasers have included the previous Shah of Iran — is teetering on the brink of chapter, he stated.
“I owe a lot of people money for that merchandise,” he instructed The Post.
In its heyday, ShopHQ generated $500M in revenues.
Georgia-based magnificence wholesaler Y&E Enterprises sued IV Media for $51,000 in “unpaid fees for products sold through the ShopHQ network,” in keeping with a lawsuit filed in Michigan state courtroom in August.
IV Media denied any wrongdoing, in keeping with a courtroom submitting.
ShopHQ was one of the pioneers of TV home buying. It started as ValueVision in 1990 then morphed into ShopNBC and EVINE Live earlier than retaking the ShopHQ moniker in 2019.
At its peak, it generated $500 million in revenues and was broadcast in some 80 million properties, rivaling QVC and HSN, in keeping with reviews.
But e-commerce has taken a toll on the TV buying area of interest. ShopHQ now persists on social media, YouTube and on its ShopHQ web site.
“Over the years there were late payments and and some of the management changed but in most cases it was a good business,” Behnam instructed The Post. “Over the last few years, we had to insure our merchandise. If we didn’t, we would have added 5% to 10% to the cost of our jewelry.”
