Jay-Z is being investigated by the SEC over $200m Rocawear sale to ICONIX

blackzeus

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Lets be honest....$200million for Rocawear in 2007 ...was a LOT of money. No matter how you cut it.

I never knew the brand was worth that money even at its peak...Even adjusted for future growth potential

It wasn't worth that much, money laundering sounds like it was about right. Jay probably made 10% being the bag man on this. But cotdamn brehs we need to block this kind of shyt from guests Feds is watchin
 

blackzeus

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Nah it made perfect sense (at least within the context of that time).

The financing environment was unbelievably loose, so asset prices across the board were super-inflated.

Apparel companies like Rocawear (were) simple operations: cheap shyt manufactured by Bangladeshi or Vietnamese factories with workers earning slave wages (especially back then), imported to the US tariff-free, riding the pre-existing record label investment in marketing & promotion of the artist representing the brand, and distributed through major retailers at sky-high prices.

The free cash flow generated by Rocawear, Sean John, and other similar brands was unbelievable back then. Remember, this is all well before the financial crisis, Amazon's domination, the ongoing retail collapse, etc. And when the company was sold, the purchase price was agreed upon with the assumption that those cashflows would continue - and even increase into the future.

The price seems ridiculous to us now because we're in a completely different environment. But in 2007, people were flooding malls by the millions, ready to shell out $35 for a branded Rocawear t-shirt on their Macy's credit card. :francis:

You can't have it both ways, either it was a company with $700 million in revenue that sold for $200 million (red flag), which then begs the question of how you can devalue something you bought for roughly 30 cents on the dollar. Or it means that the accounting irregularities were going on BEFORE Rocafella was sold (remember, they had Russian backers from the start) and when it got to a certain point Russians took over fully, paid off the bag man, wound down the operations and bailed. Classic pump and dump the Brooklyn way :francis:
 

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You can't have it both ways, either it was a company with $700 million in revenue that sold for $200 million (red flag), which then begs the question of how you can devalue something you bought for roughly 30 cents on the dollar. Or it means that the accounting irregularities were going on BEFORE Rocafella was sold (remember, they had Russian backers from the start) and when it got to a certain point Russians took over fully, paid off the bag man, wound down the operations and bailed. Classic pump and dump the Brooklyn way :francis:
:whoo:
 

panopticon

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You can't have it both ways, either it was a company with $700 million in revenue that sold for $200 million (red flag), which then begs the question of how you can devalue something you bought for roughly 30 cents on the dollar. Or it means that the accounting irregularities were going on BEFORE Rocafella was sold (remember, they had Russian backers from the start) and when it got to a certain point Russians took over fully, paid off the bag man, wound down the operations and bailed. Classic pump and dump the Brooklyn way :francis:
The $700 million in revenue was revenue across all retailers for Rocawear-branded products in 2007.

Think of it like this:

1) Rocawear sells a branded XXXXL white tee :pachaha:with a Rocawear logo to Macy's wholesale for $10.:ehh:

2) Macy's turns around and sells that same white tee to a young nikka for $35. :win:

From the retailers' perspective (Macy's) that Rocawear white tee generated $35 in revenue to Macy's.

From Rocawear's perspective (the manufacturer), that Rocawear white tee generated $10 in revenue to Rocawear.

From this article:

Jay-Z Cashes in With Rocawear Deal

"...Rocawear currently does more than $700 million in annual retail sales, Iconix said."

Whenever a "retail sales" figure is quoted for an apparel manufacturer that distributes all of its product through brick & mortar retailers (meaning they don't own any of their own stores) that figure is calculated off the price that those retailers sell the goods for - not the wholesale price that the actual manufacturer receives for those goods.

The idea is to get an apples-to-apples comparison of actual market demand for different brands - because all these different brands are sold right next to one another in a Macy's, Bloomingdale's, etc., what Wall Street is most interested in is what the final price to consumers is - with the assumption that different wholesale arrangements can be worked out between the manufacturer and retailers given the demand for their particular brand.

Given that wholesale prices are generally anywhere from 1/5-1/2 of the final retail price, it isn't far fetched to assume that Rocawear did ~$200-$250 million in revenue on those $700 million in retail sales. Which would make this transaction perfectly reasonable :manny:
 
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