MyPillow chief executive and election denier Mike Lindell April 4, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota Reformer) – The check’s in the mail, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell assured the Reformer Monday when asked about Hennepin County records showing he owes about $48,000 in unpaid property taxes.
Lindell is a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, along with House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Kendall Qualls, who was endorsed at the spring GOP convention.
Lindell’s primary residence in Tonka Bay, Minnesota — which has an estimated value of $2.5 million — has delinquent 2025 taxes totaling $32,355. Hennepin County records, reviewed by the Reformer Monday, also show the property has late taxes from the first half of 2026, which were due on May 15. The property taxes owed so far this year total $15,968, which includes a $1,318 penalty. His total unpaid tax bill approaches $48,000.
When reached by phone, Lindell told the Reformer that the checks for the delinquent 2025 property taxes and the taxes owed for the first half of this year “went out,” and that the back taxes were paid on July 1.
Asked why he is late to pay his property taxes, Lindell said he couldn’t afford them last year.
“Just like every other person in Minnesota, money’s tight. It was tight last year,” Lindell said.
The pillow mogul, whose cocaine addiction-to-riches story, media presence and relationship with President Donald Trump have fueled his campaign for governor, said he recently sold another piece of property, which will help him cover his debts. Lindell declined to say what property he sold or how many homes he owns.
Lindell also criticized the Reformer’s reporting.
“Do your hit job. You’ll embarrass yourself because it’ll all show ‘paid’ tomorrow morning,” Lindell said.
The primary election is on Aug. 11, and early voting has already started.
Like many wealthy landowners, Lindell uses an LLC to manage his property. The Tonka Bay residence is owned by Prior Lake 40 Acres, LLC, according to Hennepin County records. The address for the owner is the MyPillow factory in Chaska, according to county records. Lindell is listed as the manager for Prior Lake 40 Acres LLC, according to Secretary of State business records.
Lindell made his fortune creating and selling his famous pillows. Despite his one-time riches, Lindell says he has gone broke defending his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump, which became a wider crusade against voting machines.
Lindell last week told KSTP that over the years he’s spent $80 million “fighting to secure our elections in the United States.”
He has had money issues in the past, even before he started MyPillow. Lindell wrote in his book, “What Are the Odds?” that he decided to avoid potential damages in a dram shop lawsuit — when a bar owner is sued if a customer is over-served and then causes injury — by declaring a “fake bankruptcy.”
Dominion Voting Systems recently settled its $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Lindell after its sale to a former GOP election official. The company is now called Liberty Vote. The Dominion Voting Systems filed the defamation lawsuit against Lindell and MyPillow in 2021 over Lindell’s debunked claims that Dominion had tampered with its voting machines to swing the 2020 election for Joe Biden.
Lindell has said he has no money with which to fund his campaign, and he has several court judgments against him which may result in more losses.
His campaign has used hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor money to buy his own book, which Lindell gives out at events in lieu of conventional campaign literature.
He’s still facing a federal defamation suit against another election tech company Smartmatic, which won a summary judgment against Lindell last year.
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