Grant Cardone EXPOSED In Class Action Lawsuit

A federal appeals court just put Grant Cardone’s 15 percent promise back under the spotlight—and under oath, words matter again.

Story Snapshot

The Ninth Circuit revived a class action over Cardone’s 15 percent return marketing.
Investors in Cardone Equity Fund V and VI form the proposed class.
Deposition clips show repeated “15% annualized” language across social media.
Cardone says it was a target with no guarantees, not a promise.

Why the Case Is Back: The Court Drew a Bright Line

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said the case deserves to proceed because investors could have been misled by bold return claims in a public offering. The panel did not rule that fraud occurred. It ruled that the Securities Act claims were pleaded well enough to go forward. That matters because Section 12 claims can focus on what was said at sale, not only on intent. The opinion centers the 15 percent language as potentially material to buyers.

Plaintiffs defined the class as purchasers of interests in Cardone Equity Fund V and Cardone Equity Fund VI sold through their public offerings. That scope puts thousands of retail investors in play, not a tight group of institutions. The complaint alleges that the 15 percent annualized return pitch influenced buying decisions. The documents also indicate a social-media heavy sales push that blurred the line between hype and offering content. The class description anchors who is at issue here.

The 15 Percent Debate: Promise, Target, or Something in Between

Coverage of Cardone’s deposition shows counsel confronting him with his own clips and posts about a “15 percent annualized return.” The reporting says those statements appeared on YouTube and Instagram and sounded definite to a layperson. In that room, Cardone pushed back. He said the 15 percent figure was a target, not a guarantee, and that real results should be judged when properties sell. That gap—promise versus target—sits at the core of liability risk.

The record also features a counterbeat that helps Cardone. He points to verbal and written disclaimers that nothing was guaranteed, and he frames the 15 percent as an internal rate of return goal based on his long experience. He has posted claims that some deals even exceeded targets after holding and refinancing. Those claims, if backed by records, help his credibility. If not, they raise new questions on substantiation and basis at the time of sale.

What “Reasonable Basis” Means When You Sell to Regular People

Courts and regulators expect sponsors to have a reasonable basis for projections used to sell investments. That standard is stricter when marketing to the public, especially through viral posts that sound like plain promises. The line is simple: targets can be legal if grounded, labeled, and consistent with offering documents. Targets can cross into trouble if pitched as outcomes, repeated without context, or unsupported by data. The revived case says a jury might see that line crossed here.

American conservative values align with clear speech, personal responsibility, and fair dealing. If Cardone had a solid basis for 15 percent and flagged it as a target with real, prominent warnings, the law should protect honest risk-taking. If the sales push made a target sound like a sure thing to everyday savers, then accountability is fair. The best defense now is transparency: show the offering decks, the cash flows, the audits, and the exact words investors saw at checkout.

What to Watch Next: Three Signals That Will Decide the Story

First, watch for the offering materials and onboarding records. They will show whether “15 percent” lived in glossy videos only, or in the final pitch that closed the sale. Second, look for fund performance schedules against the time of the marketing claims. Targets need period-correct support, not hindsight wins. Third, track how the court treats social-media statements in a public offering context. That ruling will echo far beyond this case, reshaping how promoters talk to retail buyers.