Dhar Mann

Dhar Mann (born May 29, 1984) is an American entrepreneur. In 2010, Mann and stock broker Derek Peterson garnered national attention for founding weGrow, a company which sold hydroponics marketed for growing medical marijuana. weGrow was closed two years later amid lawsuits between the business partners. In 2018, he founded Dhar Mann Studios, which produces short films for social media such as YouTube.
== Early life and career ==
Dharminder Mann was born May 29, 1984, the son of Surinder and Baljit Singh, who emigrated from India to the United States. Mann's parents own Friendly Cab, a taxi cab operator based in Oakland, California, and are known for their donations to local politicians. The East Bay Express reported in 2015 that the Singh family owned an "extensive portfolio of real estate in Oakland".
Mann recalls growing up in a one-bedroom San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area apartment that was shared with three other families. As his parents were focused on managing their company, rather than "give me their time, they gave me money to do things." At the age of nineteen, he started a real estate company, and founded other, often failed, companies within the decade, including ventures in luxury car Car rental|rental services and mortgage refinancing.
== weGrow and legal issues ==
Mann founded weGrow, a retailer of cannabis-growing hydroponics, with former stock broker Derek Peterson in January 2010. Mann and Peterson rented a supply store in Oakland, California|Oakland, California to sell hydroponics equipment, and aimed to open franchises in eight other states.
In early 2011, the weGrow store was closed, with Peterson filing lawsuits against the company citing unpaid debts and accusing Mann of running a "hydroponzi scheme" in an Mother Jones (magazine) interview. A spokesman for Mann subsequently accused Peterson of fabricating the allegations in retaliation for Mann's decision to downsize their partnership, and Mann successfully countersued Peterson for a cash settlement and stocks in Peterson's own company.
== Fraud charges ==
In 2012, Mann was charged with thirteen felony counts of fraud for allegedly defrauding a city beautification program while operating his real estate company MannEdge Properties. Prosecutors reduced the sentence to five felony counts in August 2013, and later that year Mann pled no contest to the five counts. He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and restitution. Mann told The New York Times in 2021 that the conviction was later expunged.
== Dhar Mann Studios ==
Mann founded video production company Dhar Mann Studios in 2018. The studio produces films for social media such as YouTube. When Mann started a YouTube channel in 2018, its output comprised Motivational speaker|motivational videos, and the channel's focus later shifted to morality plays. In 2021, Mann started a contract with the Creative Artists Agency.
Ezra Marcus of The New York Times describes how Mann's YouTube videos present "timely narratives about police-calling Karen (slang)|Karens and Covid-19 hoarders" through the lens of "1980s after-school specials and the educational short films of the ’50s". Marcus criticized the often "thin and absolutist" moral philosophy of his videos and noted the usage of blatantly clickbait titles. Lawrence Burney of Vulture (website) noted the "feel-good" nature of Mann's videos and their intent to "encourage people to be decent to one another."
== Personal life ==
In 2014, Mann was in a relationship with businesswoman Lilly Ghalichi, known for participating on the reality television series Shahs of Sunset. Mann met his fiancée Laura Avila in 2015. Together, the couple manage LiveGlam, a cosmetics company that Mann founded in 2015. The couple had their first child in 2020. Later that year, they purchased a mansion in Calabasas, California previously owned by media personality Khloé Kardashian.
Category:1984 births
Category:American businesspeople
Category:Businesspeople from California