Roberto Escobar

Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria (born January 13, 1947), nicknamed El Osito (Little 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.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Escobar and the second or maternal family name is Gaviria.
Roberto Escobar
Roberto Escobar (right), Pablo Escobar's brother at the family compound turned museum in Medellín, Colombia with visiting American tourists
Born
Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria

(1947-01-13) January 13, 1947
Rionegro, Colombia
Other namesEl Osito
CitizenshipColombia
OccupationDrug 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
Medellín Cartel

For his part in the operations of the Medellín Cartel, Roberto Escobar was imprisoned. 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. After more than 10 years, he was released in 2006.[2][3] 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.[4]

In 2014, he reincorporated Escobar Inc with Olof K. Gustafsson and registered Successor-In-Interest rights for his brother in California, United States.[5] 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.[6] In January 2019, he launched a GoFundMe fundraiser in an effort to impeach President Donald Trump.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9][10] Two months later, on February 10, 2020, the Escobar Fold 2 was released, which is reportedly a Galaxy Fold with poorly-added Escobar branding.[11][12] Many customers, when ordering the phones, said that they never received them, with only tech influencers actually receiving products.[13][14] 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.[13] In May 2020, the company released a refurbished version of the iPhone 11 Pro and allegedly sued Apple for $2.6 billion.[14]

Bibliography
  • 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.[15]
  • 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. Calderon, Justin (January 8, 2013). "Meet a drug lord's brother on the Pablo Escobar Tour". CNN. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  3. "Escobar's Brother Injured by Letter Bomb in Prison". New York Times. December 19, 1993. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  4. 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.
  5. "California Business Portal: Successor-In-Interest". April 28, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  6. Ingram, Matthew (July 7, 2016). "Real-Life Drug Kingpin Wants Netflix to Pay Him $1 Billion for 'Narcos'". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  7. Scott, Katie (January 8, 2019). "Pablo Escobar's brother launched $50M GoFundMe to impeach Donald Trump". Global News. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  8. 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.
  9. "Escobar Inc | ESCOBAR FOLD 1 – Foldable Smartphone 128 GB". Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  10. 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.
  11. Smith, Chris (March 12, 2020). "The $399 Escobar Fold is actually a Samsung Galaxy Fold with a sticker". BGR. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  12. Brownlee, Marques (March 10, 2020). "The Truth About the Escobar Folding Phones!". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  13. Kan, Michael (2020-04-17). "Please Stop Buying the Foldable Phone From Pablo Escobar's Brother". PCMag UK. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  14. "Pablo Escobar's brother is trying to sell refurbished iPhone 11 Pros for $499". Engadget. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  15. "Pablo Escobar's dietbitcoin: After making $100 billion dollars, Roberto Escobar launches the dietbitcoin "DDX" cryptocurrency on Amazon.com Books". Retrieved March 16, 2018.

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