Jay-Z’s marijuana company in California is strapped for cash and no one can find the marijuana products for sale at retailers.
In 2020, Jay-Z launched his Monogram cannabis line with $575 million in seed money at the famous Frank Sinatra house in Palm Springs, according to SFGATE.
Beautiful models smoked joints in front of mid-century pool furniture, and splashy articles in GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair soon followed.
It’s a lifestyle, not an era.
Slim Aarons, reimagined by Hype Williams – featuring Slick Woods, @CurrenSy_Spitta, @GhettoGastro and @oranicuhh. pic.twitter.com/iCUw8lNEQZ— MONOGRAM (@monogramcompany) April 13, 2021
But, like most companies that Jay-Z aligns himself with, Monogram has gone belly up.
The company and its cannabis products can’t be found in any retail store. The parent company behind Monogram, also known as The Parent Company, burned through half a billion dollars before it merged into another company, which itself appears to be in financial trouble, according to SFGATE.
Seth Yakatan, a cannabis investor, told SFGATE that The Parent Company was spending “mind-boggling” amounts of money and that Jay-Z’s pricey Monogram products failed to live up to the hype.
“Monogram was supposed to be an ultra-premium product, and I don’t know anyone who tried it and thought it was anything more than mid-tier,” Yakatan said.
Monogram justified the high prices by saying its joints were hand-rolled with premium flower. But GQ said the joint failed to stay lit for “more than a few seconds.”
In 2022, The Parent Company reported a whopping $587 million net loss, and its stock price nosedived.
A year later, The Parent Company was forced to merge with another California cannabis company named Gold Flora.
Jay-Z and Monogram appear to have parted ways with The Parent Company in December 2022. It’s unclear if he plans to find new investors to relaunch the Monogram cannabis line.