The Magnises card<\/strong>, considered to be the Millennials Black Card with a $250 annual fee, went up in flames because of the Fyre Festival Disaster<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n Here are a few takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But before we go deep into how the card unraveled,\u00a0let’s explain everything that lead up to the end of Billy McFarland’s business, the concept behind the movement\u00a0that gained 40,000 active users, and why it was so intriguing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The start of the Magnises Card was actually made out of a bit of both desperation and inspiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s well known how exclusive the AMEX Black Card<\/a> is, being an invitation-only Charge Card that American Express offers members for hitting certain spends estimated to be $250,000 annually<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For Billy McFarland and his friends, this card seemed to be a champagne dream, but with draft beer pockets an alternative needed to be found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After searching for suppliers, McFarland managed to find a provider in China that could embed magnetic strips from your creditor into the Magnises Card- and the Magnises Card was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make this clear this wasn’t truly even a credit card at all, it was more akin to the skin for a magnetic credit strip, and altogether just another odd start to something meant to be a “poor man’s AMEX Platinum\/Centurion Card.”<\/p>\n\n\n The Magnises Townhouse was actually a private residency McFarland rented and used for business. But before he relocated his business to an office in Chelsea, a lawsuit was opened by his landlord for the cost of damages of up to $100,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These damages were for parties thrown in the townhouse and the violations caused by McFarland for using the residence as a headquarters to conduct business out of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McFarland conducted business meetings at a townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village<\/strong>, which was where Magnises hosted gatherings and dinner parties for members. It also served as the home base for the Magnises club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefits of the card were made to mimic those of the Black Card, however, these lofty benefits are ultimately what ended up causing the cannibalization of the entire business itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Magnises Card claimed that it would offer discounts to certain events, dinners, or stores– much like AMEX offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Magnises also set up their own “Concierge Service” that would help members get tickets to events and festivals, although the service lacked in comparison to what American Express has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason Magnises Concierges service just couldn’t compete with AMEX is sheer because of capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whenever there are events, plays, premiers, etc most of the time American Express actually has dealt with the major entertainment providers so they can have tickets exclusively reserved for cardholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put simply, there are times when tickets are sold out to the general public, but still available to AMEX Platinum and\/or Black Card Holders because AMEX has that pool of exclusive tickets reserved for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said the card still did actually deliver some very exciting benefits, and as much as the card was written in the history books as one of the worst “cards” of all times, it was actually their eagerness to do something great that caused this collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VIP events were offered to cardholders with some notable exclusive events including Johnny Walker Tastings, Tesla Test Drives, Magnises Fashion Shows that brought in Richard Fortus from Guns N’ Roses, an anniversary in Ibiza with Ace Hood and Juelz Santana, and a Brooklyn party with the appearance from the rapper Rick Ross, just to name a few. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The American rapper Ja Rule was even heavily involved with the business and allegedly was a major contributor to the design of these events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he retracted that statement after the Fyre Festival disaster trying to create as much distance as he could from Billy in the media once it was determined Fyre LLC was unsalvagable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November of 2016, Magnises released a statement to the press in Portugal that they had 100,000 card users, just two months after a press release claimed the card had 30,000 members – meaning that within two months they had gained 70,000 new members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During this time complaints also started piling up about Magnises with members claiming failed refunds<\/strong> on their discounted tickets and events they failed to deliver on and the Better Business Bureau graded their business as an F.<\/p>\n\n\n But the movement had gained more momentum than ever and McFarland was about to set a lofty goal that would cause his downfall in what would be one of the most shocking experiences that would start press releases around the world to cover the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April of 2017, Billy’s empire came crashing down with a massive $100 million lawsuit<\/strong> that was soon to follow. But how did this happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it became very hard for people to make sense of what they endured when Fyre Media LLC (run by McFarland) promised one thing and delivered something totally different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma, Fyre Festival was sold as the festival that was “on the brink of your wildest dreams and virtually impossible”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Beginning of The Magnises Card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Benefits of The Card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Disaster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n