Magnises

The company's namesake card, which was targeted to millennials, was widely compared to American Express's "Black Card" (officially known as the Centurion Card). Similarities between the two cards include that they were both black, made of metal, and promised exclusive perks to members. Despite appearances, however, Magnises's card was not a real charge card; instead, each card copied the magstripe information from a customer's existing Wells Fargo or Bank of America card, for which it could then be used as a substitute. By December 2013, the company had about 500 members.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/fashion/Black-Card-Magnises.html |title=A Hunk of Metal, a Chunk of Clout |last=Studeman |first=Kristin Tice |date=2013-12-19 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2019-09-10}} Benefits offered to members included VIP access to clubs, hotel discounts, and various exclusive events.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jun/11/millennials-magnises-members-only-black-card |title=Millennials may not be rich, but members-only perks ensure the luxe life |last=Kasperkevic |first=Jana |date=2016-06-11 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2019-09-10}}

The company was initially headquartered out of a rented townhouse in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, New York.{{Cite news |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/magnises-complaints-from-members-2017-1 |title=Members of a private club for 'elite' millennials want their money back |last=Stone |first=Madeline |date=2017-01-24 |work=Business Insider |access-date=2019-09-10}} The owner of this townhouse filed a lawsuit against McFarland in 2015, alleging that McFarland had "trashed" the building, accusations which he denied. The case was settled in January 2016, and the company subsequently relocated to the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.{{Cite news |url=https://fortune.com/2017/08/30/fyre-festival-billy-mcfarland-magnises/ |title=How a Black Card for Millennials Went Down in Flames |last=Bloomberg |date=2017-08-30 |work=Fortune |access-date=2019-09-10}} By 2016, it was operating in New York City and Chicago, and, according to McFarland, its membership had grown to the tens of thousands.

After McFarland's Fyre Festival ended in a high-profile fraud case in 2017, Magnises reportedly terminated its lease on its Chelsea office, and its website ceased allowing new customers to sign up. The Daily Beast retrospectively described Magnises as a scam.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-fyre-festival-founder-billy-mcfarlands-first-big-millennial-scam |title=Inside Fyre Festival Fraudster Billy McFarland’s First Big Scam |last=Zimmerman |first=Amy |date=2019-02-02 |access-date=2019-09-10 |work= The Daily Beast}} In June 2018, after the Fyre Festival, McFarland was arrested again for selling fake tickets to the Coachella Festival and the Met Gala, being accused of acquiring up to $100,000 in this manner.{{Cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/fyre-festival-founder-billy-mcfarland-arrested-for-new-ticket-selling-scam-1202844282/ |title=Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland Arrested for New Ticket-Selling Fraud |author=Variety Staff |date=2018-06-13 |access-date=2019-12-29 |magazine=Variety}} McFarland was subsequently sentenced to six years in federal prison for various frauds in connection with the Fyre Festival.

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Category:American companies established in 2013

Category:Companies disestablished in 2017

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