Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr has been caught in an alleged cash-for-access scandal, after reportedly selling FaceTime meetings with his pal, Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Court papers filed in Miami claim Mayweather – one of all-time greatest pound-for-pound fighters in boxing history – boasted of his connection to the world’s richest man and offered to set up online audiences with him for $4 million dollars.
Tequila tycoon Jayson Winer is accusing Mayweather and his real estate partner Jona Rechnitz of fraud and is seeking a jury trial. While Winer turned down the initial offer to meet Musk, he says it was eventually agreed that the retired fighter would text the X boss for a fee of $1million instead.
But the businessman alleges Mayweather never contacted Musk and claims the screenshot he was sent as ‘proof’ was fake and fraudulent.
Then, he says, a new deal was set up with the boxer’s representatives for a video call between Winer and Musk in exchange for two of his designer watches, valued at over $160,000, and an additional $20,000 in cash.
Court documents state that a person claiming to be Mayweather’s security guard came to Winer’s home in Miami and collected the watches and cash – but no video call ever took place.
Floyd Mayweather has been accused of selling bogus FaceTime calls with Elon Musk for $4m
Tequila tycoon Jayson Winer says his call with the world’s richest man never happened
Winer was told that Mayweather and Musk had grown close after the former world champion boxer helped train Musk for a ‘cage match’ against Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. While the battle of the tech titans never took place, Mayweather endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential race – to the delight of Musk. Mayweather later described Elon as ‘my guy’. There is no suggestion Musk was aware of any of Mayweather’s promises.
Winer, a digital artist who operates under the pseudonym ‘Mr. Black,’ claims that Mayweather and his friend Rechnitz preyed on his ‘desperation’ after his X account appeared to be ‘shadow banned,’ which meant his content was less visible. The ‘ban’ came as he attempted to sell 21,000 digital pieces of art in a seven-day auction and he claims he was unable to properly advertise the collection.
Real estate developer Jona Rechnitz, 42, has been embroiled in multiple legal and criminal cases in recent years. He pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, then served as a key cooperating witness to federal prosecutors in several high-profile corruption trials.
The convicted fraudster has been at Mayweather’s right hand through his break into New York real estate and the launch of his firm Vada Properties. When asked about Rechnitz’s brushes with the law, Mayweather said: ‘Jona is my friend. Whatever his case was, he dealt with it like a man, and we’re going to continue to do business.’
Mayweather, Rechnitz and Musk have been contacted for comment.
