A Florida jury has ruled in favour of rapper Flo Rida in a case against Celsius energy drinks and awarded him a total of $82.6 million (approx. Ksh.10.2 billion) in damages.
Flo Rida, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, claimed the company owed him money and stock options over an endorsement deal.
In 2014, Flo Rida agreed to an endorsement agreement with Celsius, which was later extended in 2016. The rapper filed a lawsuit against the company in 2021 claiming the company breached their 2014 contract. He claimed he had not received the stock options and other compensation he had been promised in their contract.
These bonuses were offered if specific sales goals were achieved, but Flo Rida's management claimed the contract was unclear and he was unable to take advantage of them.
"He's entitled to 500,000 shares of stock via the contract, and entitled to 250,000 shares of stock if certain things happen—one of those yardsticks is that a certain number of units of products need to be sold, but unfortunately the contract doesn't specify which type of unit—is it a box, is it a drink? And there's no timeframe or deadline," lawyer John Uustal told Insider.
According to the lawsuit, Celsius neglected to inform Flo Rida when significant sales targets in his 2014 and 2016 contracts were achieved. On grounds of breach of contract, accounting, and unjust enrichment, Flo Rida is suing.
In the lawsuit, the rapper's legal team claimed that the "global brand ambassador", was never informed by the company as sales skyrocketed, and did not have access to financial records which would have allowed him to understand their earnings.
