Roberto Escobar
Escobar in 2018
Born
Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria

(1947-01-13) January 13, 1947
Rionegro, Colombia
Other namesEl Osito
CitizenshipColombia
Occupation(s)Drug trafficker and smuggler, Co-Founder of the Medellín Cartel, Co-Founder of Escobar Inc, Co-Founder of dietbitcoin
Criminal statusReleased in 2006
Conviction(s)Drug trafficking and smuggling
Criminal penalty14 years in prison

Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria (born January 13, 1947), nicknamed El Osito ("the little teddy bear"), is the brother of deceased drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar, and the former accountant and co-founder of the Medellín Cartel,[1] which was responsible for up to 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States.

He was the oldest son of Abel de Jesús de Escobar and Hermilda Gaviria. Passionate about cycling since his youth, he obtained third place in the team event of the National Cycling Championship of Colombia, and obtained 37 victories in cycling in a single year, second place as athlete of the year of the department of Antioquia,[2] surpassed by Martin Emilio "Cochise" Rodriguez. Also he was also coach of the Colombian cycling team in international competitions.

His nickname El Osito ("the little teddy bear") is due to the fact that during an arrival of the caravan in Medellín, with him leading the competition, a downpour fell on the uncovered highway that had already been transformed into a river of mud. The tires of his bicycle sent the mud to his face until it was completely covered, exposing only his eyes. When he reached the finish line, the radio journalist who was broadcasting the stage said: "Here comes Roberto Escobar Gaviria, who looks more like a teddy bear."[3]

For his part in the operations of the Medellín Cartel, Roberto Escobar succeeded his cousin Gustavo Gaviria, after he was imprisoned in 1991. He escaped with his brother in July 1992 but surrendered to authorities a year later. On December 18, 1993, while still in prison, he was blinded in one eye by a letter bomb which was sent by Los Pepes. After more than 10 years, he was released in 2006.[4][5] In the 2009 book, The Accountant's Story, Roberto Escobar relates his story as head accountant of the cartel. The book contains numerous unusual facts, like that the cartel lost billions of dollars that was eaten by rats or damaged by water in storage, and that the cartel spent up to $2,500 per month purchasing rubber bands to hold stacks of money together.[6]

In 2014, he reincorporated Escobar Inc with Olof K. Gustafsson and registered Successor-In-Interest rights for his brother in California, United States.[7] On July 1, 2016, he sent a letter to Netflix regarding the Narcos TV series demanding $1 billion in payment for unauthorized usage of content.[8] In January 2019, he launched a GoFundMe fundraiser in an effort to impeach President Donald Trump.[9]

In July 2019, Escobar started selling a propane torch made to look like a flamethrower and accused CEO of The Boring Company Elon Musk of intellectual property theft, alleging that The Boring Company's promotional Not-a-Flamethrower is based on a design that Escobar discussed in 2017 with an engineer associated with Musk. Via media Escobar publicly offered Musk to settle the dispute for $100 million, in cash or shares of Tesla, or alternatively to use the legal system to become the new CEO of Tesla, Inc.[10]

In December 2019, Escobar announced a folding phone, the Escobar Fold 1. The phone was priced at $349. Escobar said "I have told many people that I will defeat Apple — and I will". He claimed that it can only be destroyed by fire.[11][12] Two months later, on February 10, 2020, the Escobar Fold 2 was released, which is reportedly a Galaxy Fold with poorly-added Escobar branding.[13][14] Many customers, when ordering the phones, said that they never received them, with only tech influencers actually receiving products.[15][16] It has also been alleged that Escobar Inc sent bogus product orders consisting of a book, allowing Escobar Inc to claim the phone had been delivered.[15] In May 2020, the company released a refurbished version of the iPhone 11 Pro and allegedly sued Apple for $2.6 billion.[16]

Bibliography

  • Escobar Gaviria, Roberto (2020). I Made Billions Selling Coke Now My Smartphones Will Destroy Apple and Samsung. Escobar, Inc. ISBN 978-0578636863.
  • Escobar Gaviria, Roberto (2018). Pablo Escobar's dietbitcoin: After making $100 billion dollars, Roberto Escobar launches the dietbitcoin "DDX" cryptocurrency. Escobar, Inc. ISBN 978-1980576181.[17]
  • Escobar Gaviria, Roberto (2016). My Brother – Pablo Escobar. Escobar, Inc. ISBN 978-0692706374.
  • Escobar Gaviria, Roberto (2009). The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0446543699.

References

  1. ↑ Rutten, Tim (February 25, 2009). "'The Accountant's Story' by Roberto Escobar". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ "El osito Escobar; una historia en bicicleta". 24 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "Así es la vida de Roberto Escobar, el hermano de Pablo Escobar". 10 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Calderon, Justin (January 8, 2013). "Meet a drug lord's brother on the Pablo Escobar Tour". CNN. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  5. ↑ "Escobar's Brother Injured by Letter Bomb in Prison". New York Times. December 19, 1993. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  6. ↑ Macias, Amanda. "Legendary drug lord Pablo Escobar lost $2.1 billion in cash each year — and it didn't matter". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  7. ↑ "California Business Portal: Successor-In-Interest". April 28, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ Ingram, Matthew (July 7, 2016). "Real-Life Drug Kingpin Wants Netflix to Pay Him $1 Billion for 'Narcos'". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ Scott, Katie (January 8, 2019). "Pablo Escobar's brother launched $50M GoFundMe to impeach Donald Trump". Global News. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  10. ↑ Greene, Tristan (2019-07-11). "Pablo Escobar's brother escalates flamethrower feud with Elon Musk, threatens Tesla takeover". The Next Web. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  11. ↑ "Escobar Inc | ESCOBAR FOLD 1 – Foldable Smartphone 128 GB". Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  12. ↑ Ankel, Sophia; Welt. "Pablo Escobar's brother is selling a $349 foldable smartphone his company says can be destroyed only by fire". Insider. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  13. ↑ Smith, Chris (March 12, 2020). "The $399 Escobar Fold is actually a Samsung Galaxy Fold with a sticker". BGR. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  14. ↑ Brownlee, Marques (March 10, 2020). "The Truth About the Escobar Folding Phones!". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Kan, Michael (2020-04-17). "Please Stop Buying the Foldable Phone From Pablo Escobar's Brother". PCMag UK. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  16. 1 2 "Pablo Escobar's brother is trying to sell refurbished iPhone 11 Pros for $499". Engadget. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  17. ↑ Escobar, Roberto (16 March 2018). Pablo Escobar's dietbitcoin: After making $100 billion dollars, Roberto Escobar launches the dietbitcoin "DDX" cryptocurrency on Amazon.com Books. ISBN 978-1980576181.
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