'Max Brenner' was pushed out of his own company, financially destroyed

Seems like the big problem here was that he gave away his company and only had 3.5% equity in it. He says in the article he thought it'd be enough to make an impact, and that it'd turn into a 1B dollar company with him earning 35M from it. I think he's right when he says he was blinded by the love of the applause. No other way someone could delude themselves into thinking 3.5% would be enough in the chocolate game.

I'm not sure if Max Brenner chocolate is in the EU or outside the US, but here in the US its a popular place for desserts and its pretty expensive.

According to the article, it seems that Brenner lost his business because he opened up a side project while the chocolate store was popping off, and he was sued under a non-compete.

That was sad to learn, and it seems that now he's back he's moved out of chocolate and into cacao. I'm not too familiar with the cacao plant or its products, but this story shows that its possible to come back from defeat, and I hope Brenner can find success again, this time with a business he actually owns.