Nate Holzapfel (born Nathanael Reid Holzapfel, February 5, 1979) is an American entrepreneur and convicted fraudster known for his appearance on ABC's Shark Tank, where he pitched as a representative of the Mission Belt Co. He then pursued a career in consulting and public speaking.
In February 2015, Holzapfel revealed that he would be featured on a spin-off of Shark Tank, called Beyond the Tank.
In October 2021, Holzapfel was arrested on allegations that he defrauded a woman he had been dating out of nearly $200,000. He tricked her into signing over her house into a company he controlled. The woman is described as having significant health problems and being responsible for taking care of her disabled adult child. He was found guilty in 2023 and sentenced to 1-15 years on multiple charges.
Early life
Nate Holzapfel was born to professor Richard N. Holzapfel and Jeni Broberg Holzapfel in Provo, Utah. He is the oldest of five children. When Nate was an infant, his family moved to Irvine, California for his father's schooling, and at age 13 his family moved to the small town of Woodland, Utah.
Career
Mission Belt
Mission Belt was founded with the goal of bringing brand recognition to belts. After moderate initial success, Holzapfel pitched the company on Shark Tank and was able to negotiate a deal with fashion brand icon Daymond John.
After partnering with John, Mission Belt sales increased by over $1 million within three weeks of the show airing. As of early 2017, Mission Belt had $25 million in revenue. Mission Belt has been listed as one of John's top 5 deals on Shark Tank.
Following Holzapfel's arrest in October 2021, Mission Belt issued a statement distancing the company from him, saying he had not been associated with the company for more than seven years.
Sales and Management Training
Holzapfel offered sales training, coaching, and public speaking services through a personal website. The website is now inactive.
The Nate State of Mind
In 2015 Holzapfel launched The Nate State of Mind, offering coaching, training, videos, and books about personal branding. The domain TheNateStateofMind.com is no longer registered to Holzapfel.
Controversies
Larry King lawsuit
In 2019 a lawsuit was filed in federal court in California alleging that Holzapfel "used false pretenses to obtain Larry King's participation in a mock interview, then infringed Plaintiffs' common law trademarks and rights of publicity to make it appear that Larry King endorsed Defendants' commercial activities when, in fact, he has not done so."
According to the complaint, King agreed to do the mock interview, conducted in 2013, "as a favor to a family member." The suit goes on to say that King agreed to provide Holzapfel with a copy of the interview, "for the limited and sole purpose of using excerpts from it in a 'sizzle reel' [demonstration video] that Holzapfel could privately submit to a few television producers and others, in the hopes that those producers would hire Holzapfel for a television program. Holzapfel agreed to use the recorded Mock Interview only for that limited purpose."
The complaint adds that it was made to seem that Holzapfel had appeared on "Larry King Now," when in fact he did not. Alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition and other counts, the suit sought unspecified damages.
In March 2019 the Blast reported that King won a default judgment for $250,000 against Holzapfel. Additionally, Holzapfel was ordered to pay $8,600 towards King's legal fees. The judge also ordered Holzapfel to cease using King’s name and likeness and destroy any materials he made featuring King.
Fraud and Forcible Sexual Abuse Charges
In October 2021, Holzapfel was charged with several counts of communication fraud. The Utah County Attorney's Office charging documents alleged that Holzapfel defrauded a woman he had been dating out of nearly $200,000 "by tricking her into signing over her house into a company he controlled. The woman is described as having significant health problems and being responsible for taking care of her disabled adult child."