entrepreneur

The NYT published the story of the AI ​​entrepreneur who has a turnover of 1.8 billion with two employees. Forgot to mention a few things

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On April 2, The New York Times public a profile of Matthew Gallagher, a 41-year-old entrepreneur from Los Angeles who with $20,000, the help of his brother and a dozen AI tools managed to create MEDVi. This telemedicine startup sells GLP-1 weight loss drugs and in 2025 had a turnover of $401 million and projects to reach $1.8 billion in 2026. The story went viral and seemed to show that the AI ​​revolution can make you rich if you set up your own sole proprietorship (or almost), but in reality the NYT article left without mentioning important details and disturbing aspects of this business success. 800 fake doctors. In creating MEDVi, Gallaguer created more than 800 Facebook pages that posed as the profiles of individual doctors. Dr. Daniel Foster, Dr. Jacob L. Chandler or Dr. Alistair Whitmore do not exist: they are profiles created by AI, with photos generated with AI, and which precisely serve as support for women between 35 and 55 years old on Facebook who want to lose weight to see these profiles. The NYT article itself commented that photos with models generated by AI appeared on the MEDVi website and that some advertisements They were “AI Slop”. The media talks about me or not really. The company’s official website also showed logos of Bloomberg or The Times as if they had published articles about it when in reality it had barely advertised in said media and then could show that it had appeared in said media. What the article does not mention is the scale of this Facebook profiling operation. The FDA warns. On February 20, 2026, the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter (#721455) which was in fact part of a set of similar letters sent to 30 telemedicine companies. This type of letter is not a formal accusation, but rather an “informal and advisory” communication. The reason for the letter to MEDVi were two specific problems on its website. First, the images of the products showed the label “MEDVi”, which in American regulations implies that the company is the manufacturer of these medications, when in reality it is just an intermediary that orders them from external pharmacies. Second, phrases such as “same active ingredient as Wegovy® and Ozempic®” led one to believe that MEDVi’s compounded products had received FDA approval or evaluation, when compounded medications do not go through that process. The NYT did not mention the FDA letter. Medications with uncertain (or no) effectiveness. Part of MEDVi business includes oral compound tirzepatidea product that does not exist in an FDA-approved form. This company falsely presented it as a safe and effective GLP-1 drug for weight loss, even though there is no regulatory-approved variant. The only approved oral GLP-1 requires an absorption enhancer and very controlled administration conditions: MEDVi was selling something that probably did nothing, and in fact laboratories like Lilly have warned of these types of products and have taken legal action to prohibit its sale. A group of people already sued several telemedicine companies for selling “snake oil” as if oral tirzepatide were magic when nothing has been proven. Again, there was no data on this in the NYT article. 1.6 million medical records leaked. MEDVi outsources its medical infrastructure to OpenLoop Health, which the NYT article mentions as “managing doctors, pharmacies, shipping and regulatory compliance.” In January 2026, a cybercriminal managed to access OpenLoop systems and claimed to have obtained the records of some 1.6 million patients including names, contact information, dates of birth and medical information. OpenLoop reported of the intrusion in March 2026 and confirmed that at least 68,000 were affected in the state of Texas alone. If you want clients, the key is spam. MEDVi too has been sued in California for violating this state’s anti-spam laws. According to that lawsuit, MEDVi used an affiliate marketing technique that sent spam using falsified information, spoofed domains, and shipping addresses designed to avoid spam filters. Gallagher noted in The New York Times that “a total of $20,000 was spent on the software and the first month of marketing,” and it is not clear how much of the initial growth was due to practices that are now part of that new legal process. A success story with a dangerous background. The story that NYT tells us is fascinating and seems to effectively point to that future in which a person will be able to set up a successful business with the help of AI. However, in this case the success achieved is overshadowed by the way in which AI was used and the way in which Gallaguer presented his business. The NYT seems to have verified that the company actually earned $401 million in 2025. The question that remains unanswered is what part of that income came from people who bought a drug that probably doesn’t work, promoted by doctors who don’t exist, through an infrastructure that ended up leaking their medical data. Image | MEDVi In Xataka | We believed that GLP-1 drugs were only going to change obesity. They just turned upside down how we treat addictions

A technology entrepreneur sold his company for 1,600 million and only stayed with 100

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The History of Brian O’Kelley It stands out among business and technology holders for a very rare decision in a context of Technological Millionaires. Like many others before him, O’Kelley gave a millionaire ball selling his company Appnexus in 2018 for 1.6 billion dollars. The most surprising thing is that, instead of withdraw with full pocketshe chose to be alone a small part of fortune and donate the rest to beneficial causes. Such and as they counted in Fortunehis position has given what to talk about, especially in a context where more and more entrepreneurs reflect on The social impact of their fortunes and the responsibility of returning part of the benefits to society, instead of limiting itself to accumulating Large amounts of money that would not spend Not in seven lives. His vision of ethical wealth Brian O’Kelley sold his company to AT&T for an amount of $ 1.6 billion in 2018. instead of retire to enjoy your new fortuneO’Kelley had with his wife what he defined as a “really interesting conversation”: decide How much money they needed To live comfortably. “We simply calculate an amount that we consider enough to buy a house and things like that, we double it and give it the rest,” confessed the entrepreneur to Fortune. The final figure were nothing negligible 100 million dollars, equivalent to 10% of their participation in the company after the acquisition. The rest, more than 1.5 billion dollars, was allocated to beneficial causes and social projects. O’Kelley maintains a very clear philosophy about The accumulation of money: “I don’t believe in billionaires. I think it’s simply ridiculous.” For the entrepreneur, the really important thing is to keep the feet on the floor and limit personal wealth to continue making responsible decisions in everyday life. “We never wanted to have so much money that we did not have to make decisions. We have an incredible life, we can do almost everything we want. But we cannot do everything we want. We have to talk about our budget as any other person,” said the millionaire businessman. O’Kelley It is not the only millionaire that assumes one Ethical perspective of its wealthand insist on demanding governments a greater tax imposition For great fortunes. The Founder of Appnexus considers that accumulating billions and show off it It takes you away from reality. “I do not understand why you need 200 billion, 500 billion or even 1,000 million. The joy of appreciating what we have and making those difficult decisions is really fundamental.” Millionaires who do not want to leave inheritance Brian O’Kelley either wants his children to enjoy a life ofprivileges without making any effort To deserve it. “I feel fatal because my children can fly in Business“, says the millionaire of 1.96 m, ensuring that he does it for comfort.” I have flown all over the world in a tourist class many times, this is to give me a whim, but I do not want to spoil my children. And a lot of this leads me to think about how they see life from their eyes. I want them to share a little of that fight that I had to do to get there. “ This approach goes in line with the growing trend between millionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or Mick Jaggerwho have announced that They will not leave their fortunes to their children and prefer allocate your money to social works. Gates, for example, states that 99% of his fortune will be donated and that only 1% will go to their children, so they can learn The value of the effort. O’Kelley is overwhelming when talking about ostentatious lifestyles pointing out that hopefully more people question why the style of Jeff Bezos life. “You cannot have a yacht, a helicopter, an island and a large building with your name and all those things, because then you are a bit unbearable. No human being can really appreciate that. It is a waste of incredibly ridiculous money in a world where there are so many people who do not have it.” The entrepreneur considers to stay connected with normality and have limits that allow you to carry A responsible life. “There is something to stay connected to normal that is really important. I don’t want to get to act without consequences. I think that is the greatest risk, how can we be responsible when we have so much money that we can buy anything?” In Xataka | There is a less painful solution for an inheritance not to become a ruin for heirs: give up it Image | Flickr (IAB UK)

By assuming 100% of the evening and leaving out Piqué, Ibai culminates its definitive transformation: from Streamer to entrepreneur

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Of all the projects that currently stands the streamer and Ibai Llanos businessman, no doubt the evening is the one that attracts the most public and media attention. A boxing fight between Influencers which this year will celebrate on July 14 its fifth edition. It comes with novelty: for the first time, Ibai faces this ambitious solo project, separated from its usual partner, Gerard Piqué. Boxing for the masses. The evening Keep growing Without apparent ceiling at the moment. The stuffing day facing Influencers Spanish and Latin American and that This year The clash between Thegrefg and Westcol has as the main course (although others such as the confrontation between Abby and Roro are monopolizing even more media attention) reached In his fourth edition Last year 80,000 live spectators in the Santiago Bernabéu and three million on Twitch. This year the evening moves to the Cartuja of Seville, with a capacity comparable to that of the Madrid stadium. Unexpected split. The great novelty this year comes at the organization level: Kosmos, Gerard Piqué’s company that had collaborated with IBAI in the organization of the event, retires from it. In February 2024, Ibai created Velaris-Kena Productions SL, in which it consists as a single partner. It will be the latter in charge of organization of all aspects of evening 5. According to Cincodíasthere will be the punctual collaboration of other companies, such as Kosmos, but Velaris-Kena takes care of the bulk of production. History of collaborations. The collaborations between Ibai and Piqué started in 2021, when they broadcast the Copa América de Fútbol in Port Aventura or the World Balloons. Your first approach to competitions between Streamers It was in 2022, when they organized the Twitch Grand Prix of karts. The failed E-Sports team of Ibai, Koialso had the participation of Kosmos and today is owned by a Canadian group. All this set in a 50%company, Global Goatchthat despite its high billing (around 8 million euros in 2022 and 2023), now it has barely activity. The other great brand they have cultivated together, the Kings Leagueit is actually a Piqué project: Ibai is president of one of the most prominent teams, porcinos FC, but the management and organization of the league falls to the business structure created by Gerard Piqué and his partners. The brand is what you want. The final step that distance to the two entrepreneurs is the registration of the brand La Velada of the year alone by the IBAI company (although, in principle, in February 2024 the registry had been requested by Goatch Global). Later, in October, the company gave ownership to Ibai Llanos, while the US (Intellectual Property Office of the European Union) decided whether to award the brand or not: until March this year, the entity was not clear that a term that seemed generic. Later, he certified, thanks to his turnover, presence in media and unequivocal association of the term “evening” to Ibai, which could be formalized by the registration. More businesses. It is an important advance by IBAI, in an unequivocal step of its transformation as a content creator to entrepreneur who, yes, exposes his image more than usual (although what is Your thinning challenge but a sophisticated image operation with the most important aspect of his brand, himself). The evening brand record will allow you to face a diversification of your business with aspects such as merchandising and licenses (with the first aspect It has already begunlaunching products linked to its events in association with Prime Hydration, drink brand founded by Logan Paul and Ksi). A lot of heat. And for that reason, because Ibai is already a businessman than a content creator, He takes care of promoting the evening in x so that tickets are exhausted again. Some critics with the event claim that mid -July in Seville, it may not have been the most commercial idea in the world, but with an adverse or without it, it is clear that the evening, now brand registered by one of the younger businessmen in the country, continues to raise expectation. Header | The evening / wikipedia In Xataka | Ibai is going to launch its own football team to start from the lowest. There is actually a very thoughtful strategy

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