MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell tells judge he's in dire financial straits

Zoë Jackson, Star Tribune on Apr 17, 2025

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The embattled MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell told a judge this week that his legal troubles have left him without liquid cash.

Voting software company Smartmatic filed a motion to hold Lindell in contempt last month, alleging that he has been dodging a court-ordered payment for months.

“I’m in ruins,” he told Judge Carl Nichols of his financial situation, during a U.S. District Court hearing Wednesday in Washington, according to ABC News. Back in January, Nichols ordered Lindell to pay Smartmatic more than $50,000 over unfounded claims against the company.

In an interview Thursday with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Lindell said that his attorney called the hearing because Smartmatic was using dated numbers to assess what he could pay.

“I don’t have any liquid cash laying around,” Lindell said. “They got their numbers back in 2021 or 2022, before I spent all the money helping to save this country, fighting these voting machine companies.”

Smartmatic is concerned about its ability to collect “the fees and costs incurred in defending itself,” according to a company court filing on Wednesday. Lindell said he’s taking home a small wage rather than the extravagant CEO salary that the company is alleging.

Lindell told the Star Tribune earlier this month that he is considering running for Minnesota governor in 2026, though he currently lives in Texas.

“Obviously, if I go all in to run, I have got to be a Minnesota resident. I know the rules,” Lindell said recently.

The voting machine companies want Lindell to back down from his debunked election fraud claims involving their equipment, but the pillow magnate isn’t giving up.

“We need to get paper ballots hand-counted and I will never stop fighting for that,” he said.

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