Twoand a half months after it canned its MLM opportunity and went wholesale, Dot Dot Smile has filed for bankruptcy.

Dot Dot Smile initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in California on September 3rd.

As per Dot Dot Smile’s filing, the company has $4.4 million in assets and is $5.6 million in debt.

Dot Dot Smile’s largest creditors are:

  • Gary Thompson (appears to be a family loan) – $200,000
  • CloudFund LLC (debt relief company) – $325,000
  • Mirror Fashion Co. Hong Kong – $1.5 million
  • Nano (no information provided) – $600,000
  • Network Ventures LLC (breach of contract) – $353,846

Nothing MLM related, at least outside of the corporate side of things, appears on Dot Dot Smile’s filing.

A BerhindMLM reader claimed, as of July 31st, 2022, that

No one has been paid since may. Some people are owed thousands of dollars. They laid off all of their staff.

The cynic in me is having a hard time seeing Dot Dot Smile’s bankruptcy as anything but planned.

Company owners Nicole and Jeff Thompson (right) likely knew bankruptcy was coming, and figured they had to dispose of the MLM business before filing.

There was probably no actual intent to ever continue Dot Dot Smile without the MLM opportunity.

I could be wrong but Dot Dot Smile all of a sudden finding itself $5.6 million in debt over the past three months doesn’t seem plausible.

I’m not sure how this all works out legally. Even if everything is above-board though, it still reflects poorly on the Thompsons with respect to transparency and Dot Dot Smile’s distributors.

Looking forward, Dot Dot Smile’s State of Financial affairs filing is due on September 19th. A meeting of creditors has been scheduled for October 12th.

Dot Dot Smile is tied to LuLaRoe by way of Nicole Thompson being the daughter of co-founders DeAnne and Mark Stidham.

Whether Dot Dot Smile filing for bankruptcy has had or will have any impact on LuLaRoe’s business operations is unclear.

 

Update 13th December 2022 – Dot Dot Smile has filed its Chapter 11 Plan, revealing how they intend to operate going forward.

 

Update 16th February 2024 – On January 23rd a Dismissal Order was filed, dismissing Dot Dot Smile’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

I’m not 100% on bankruptcy law but I believe this is the end of bankruptcy proceedings with respect to Dot Dot Smile.