Minus Cal has a net worth of $0 in 2026. The company behind the “fat-blocking” protein bars went out of business within about a year of its Shark Tank appearance in September 2019, after all five sharks passed on the deal. Its website is offline, its social media accounts have been silent since 2019, and the bars are no longer sold on Amazon or in any store. Total lifetime sales came to about $28,000, a long way from the $2.5 million valuation the founders pitched on the show.
Here is the full story: what Minus Cal was, what happened in the tank, and why the business collapsed so fast.
What is Minus Cal’s net worth in 2026?
Zero. Minus Cal is a defunct company with no products, no revenue, and no active operations. It never recovered from walking out of Shark Tank without a deal, and it shut down by 2020.
The numbers near the end tell the story quickly. Lifetime sales reached about $28,000 in total. In its final stretch, annual revenue was reported at just $2,300, with profit of around $190. For a business that had asked investors to accept a $2.5 million valuation, that gap was fatal.
| Company | Minus Cal (MinusCal), Nashville, Tennessee |
| Founded | 2017, by Crom Carmichael and Barrett Jacques |
| Shark Tank episode | Season 11, Episode 1 (aired September 29, 2019) |
| The ask | $500,000 for 20% equity (a $2.5 million valuation) |
| Result | No deal. All five sharks passed |
| Lifetime sales | About $28,000 |
| Status in 2026 | Out of business. Net worth: $0 |
What was Minus Cal?
Minus Cal was a health and wellness startup from Nashville, Tennessee, founded in 2017 by Crom Carmichael and Barrett Jacques. It sold protein bars in three flavors (chocolate, peanut butter, and apple cinnamon) plus a supplement in pill form.
The hook was an ingredient called Choleve, a proprietary extract made from fermented tea. The pitch was that Choleve interferes with the enzymes that break down fat in the small intestine, so a portion of the fat you eat passes through the body undigested instead of being absorbed. The company put the blocked share at up to about 12 percent of fat intake on average, and said an internal study showed people eating the bars for eight weeks, alongside diet and exercise, lost an extra one to seven pounds. It also said Choleve could lower cholesterol by 17 to 20 percent.
So the product was not a drug. It was a snack bar and a dietary supplement, and that distinction ended up mattering a great deal, both in the tank and afterward.
What happened on Shark Tank?
Carmichael and Jacques appeared in the Season 11 premiere, which aired on September 29, 2019. They asked for $500,000 in exchange for 20 percent of the company, valuing Minus Cal at $2.5 million. The panel that night included Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and guest shark Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND Snacks.
The pitch turned into one of the most heated exchanges the show has aired. Cuban went after the branding first: a product named Minus Cal, he argued, tells shoppers it removes calories, which is not what a partial fat blocker does. When the founders defended the science, he dismissed the whole pitch as “air” and warned the other sharks off. Carmichael pushed back hard, and the exchange turned into a shouting match before it ended.
The core problem was proof. The founders could not point to strong independent clinical evidence for the fat-blocking effect, and their answers about the data shifted under questioning. One by one, every shark went out. Minus Cal left with no money and, worse, a nationally televised warning label.
Why did Minus Cal fail?
Four things sank the company, and they reinforced each other.
The evidence gap came first. In the United States, dietary supplements are not reviewed for effectiveness before they are sold, so a bold claim like “blocks fat” lives or dies on the strength of the studies behind it. Minus Cal’s support rested on a small internal study, and one to seven pounds over eight weeks, while also dieting and exercising, is a modest result to hang a brand on.
The TV moment cut both ways. A Shark Tank appearance usually brings a sales spike even without a deal. Minus Cal got the audience but not the halo. Millions of viewers watched the pitch fall apart in real time, so the exposure amplified doubt instead of demand.
Customers were not impressed either. The bars briefly sold on Amazon after the episode, where they settled at a 2-star rating from 16 reviews before disappearing from the listing entirely.
And the category itself is unforgiving. Weight-loss products draw close attention from regulators. The FDA’s supplement rules put the burden on the seller to keep claims truthful and substantiated, and advertising watchdogs treat fat-loss promises as high-risk territory. A small startup with thin data had very little room to market its one differentiating feature.
With no investor, no retail traction, and a headline moment that worked against it, the business wound down quietly. Sales stalled in the low thousands per year, the social accounts went dark before the end of 2019, and the company was effectively gone by 2020.
Could Minus Cal come back?
There is no sign of it. As of 2026 the website remains offline, the founders have not relaunched the brand, and Choleve has not resurfaced in another mainstream product. A revival would need what the original launch lacked: independent, peer-reviewed evidence that the ingredient meaningfully blocks fat absorption in humans. Without that, the brand name now carries more baggage than value.
For searchers comparing Shark Tank outcomes, Minus Cal sits at the far end of the spectrum: not just a company that missed a deal, but one whose appearance actively accelerated its end.
Frequently asked questions
Is Minus Cal still in business?
No. Minus Cal shut down by 2020, within about a year of its Shark Tank episode. The website is offline, its social accounts have been inactive since 2019, and the bars and pills are not sold anywhere.
Did Minus Cal get a deal on Shark Tank?
No. All five sharks passed in the Season 11 premiere. Mark Cuban was the most vocal critic, dismissing the pitch as “air” and arguing the name misled shoppers about what the product could do.
Who founded Minus Cal?
Crom Carmichael and Barrett Jacques, two entrepreneurs from Nashville, Tennessee, founded the company in 2017. They asked the sharks for $500,000 in exchange for 20 percent of the business.
What was Choleve supposed to do?
Choleve is a proprietary fermented tea extract. Minus Cal said it partially blocks the enzymes that digest fat, so up to about 12 percent of dietary fat passes through unabsorbed. Strong independent clinical proof was never published.
How much money did Minus Cal make?
About $28,000 in total lifetime sales. Near the end, reported annual revenue was around $2,300 with roughly $190 in profit, far below the $2.5 million valuation pitched on the show.
Conclusion
Minus Cal is worth $0. The Nashville startup pitched its Choleve fat-blocking bars at a $2.5 million valuation in the 2019 Shark Tank premiere, left with no deal after a fiery clash with Mark Cuban, and shut down by 2020 with about $28,000 in lifetime sales. The lesson is simple: a health claim is only as strong as the independent evidence behind it, and Minus Cal never had enough.
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