Mario Nawfal’s former associates speak out about the Twitter star

Mario Nawfal is one of the ascendant stars on Elon Musk’s Twitter, receiving praise from Musk and frequently hosting the platform’s largest audio events.

Mario Nawfal has emerged as one of the ascendant alternative media stars on Elon Musk’s Twitter, now named X, amassing more than 916,000 followers, receiving praise from Musk himself and frequently hosting some of the platform’s largest audio events. 

Positioning himself as a combination of entrepreneur, business influencer and “citizen journalist,” Nawfal hosts and moderates “The Roundtable Show,” which he says brings in more than 6 million listeners per week on Twitter Spaces. The live audio chat has become a mainstay on the platform, featuring guests like former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Hunter Biden, and receiving promotion from Musk. The crypto consulting company International Blockchain Consulting Group, of which Nawfal is the majority shareholder, says it is currently selling sponsorships for the show for up to $1 million.

But Nawfal’s meteoric rise from a little-known businessman to a seemingly omnipresent Twitter celebrity has been met by growing scrutiny from former colleagues who say Nawfal’s public persona of business and social media success has been built in part on broken promises and highly calculated and orchestrated growth hacking efforts.   

NBC News spoke with seven people who said they invested with Nawfal or his companies, or worked with him at various points in his career. They painted a picture of an entrepreneur hungry for fame who has left unhappy collaborators in his wake, and they described incidents that trace a pattern of late payment or nonpayment — six said they had not been paid sums above $10,000 that they believe they were owed. 

Communications from the individuals show they have been trying for years to get money back that they said Nawfal’s companies owe them. Some say they have received partial repayments, and others have lost hope.