“Shark Tank” star Daymond John reportedly attempted to sell N95 masks at an inflated price to the state of Florida.
John allegedly tried to sell one million N95 masks at $7 each to the state of Florida, according to a report published Wednesday by the Miami Herald. The masks reportedly usually sell for under $2 per mask, the outlet reported.
“Shark Tank” star Daymond John reportedly tried to sell a million coveted N95 masks to Florida at $7 a piece.
The $7M deal ultimately fell through and is now under scrutiny by mask maker 3M.https://t.co/zejy3PdC0c
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 22, 2020
Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Department of Emergency, agreed to the price due to the scramble for supplies.
“This was not somebody off the street, this was Daymond John,” Moskowitz told the outlet. “He came to me and said, ‘I’ve been in the clothing business. I have connections with factories in China.'”
The deal eventually fell through on April 13. It is unclear where the price-point came from, but John’s attempt to sell the face masks is being investigated by the manufacturing company 3M. (RELATED: New Jersey Contractor Charged With Stealing Up To 1,600 N95 Masks Intended For Hospital Donation)
“3M is not aware of how the Shark Group would gain access to our respirators as it is not an authorized distributor of 3M products or one of our channel partners,” 3M said in a statement obtained by Fox News.
“3M list prices, which are published on our website, are far lower than what appears to have been offered to the State of Florida,” the statement continued. “3M is filing lawsuits in cases where third parties use the company’s name, brand or trademark to engage in price gouging of N95 respirators and other illegal and unethical behavior. We have no knowledge of whether that occurred in this situation. We are happy, though, to assist law enforcement authorities if they wish to look into this matter.”