Bonus - Alki David: Unleashed or Unhinged?
The Coca Cola bottling billionaire was arrested for smuggling 5,000 CBD hemp seedlings into St. Kitts on his private jet (the press called the CBD “cannabis” – silly reporters). In this exclusive interview, Alki unloads about the arrest, his plan to turn the Caribbean into a hemp growing mecca, and why he thinks Trump is a hero. And that's just for starters...
“Alki” (Alkiviades) David is no stranger to controversy. He seems to crave it, in fact. He once offered $1M to anyone who would strip down and streak in front of President Barak Obama. Last year he made headlines for storming out of a Los Angeles courtroom when a jury fined him $11 million for sexually harassing two employees. (He’s refusing to pay “on principle”). On May 15, 2019, he was busted flying 5,000 seedlings of high CBD hemp, worth an estimated $500,000 into the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.
He and his party (which included actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and fellow billionaire business partner, Chase Ergen), were detained for 8 hours and Alki was sent to jail for a night. The next day he posted $300,000 bail, Instagrammed selfies of himself heading to court, then videotaped his take off from the island. “St. Kitts is not going to get all these delicious goodies for another couple of weeks…” he said to camera. “We’ll be back in three weeks with the rolling papers, baby.”
In fact, Alki flew to Puerto Rico, where he promised to start hemp farms across the island and then to buy the crops for his Swissx line of CBD products. If it works, the plan will guarantee hundreds of Puerto Rican farmers a steady stream of income -- a financial boon to an island desperately in need.
Is Alki a criminal or a capitalist hero? Was the St. Kitts drama an audacious publicity stunt? And how do you fit 5,000 plants on a private jet, anyway? Alki addresses these and other questions in this rambunctious and, at times, rude interview, which left me wondering is he unbottled, unhinged, or just unusually media savvy? Or is he defiant simply because he’s worth $3.3 billion US (2.5 GBP) and can afford to be?
Have a look at some of the photos he posted in this album. And let us know your opinion.