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Capitola, California entrepreneur Griffin Guess,<\/strong> the guy running the Titans of Mavericks<\/strong> big wave surf contest and Big Cartel Management<\/strong> reportedly filed for bankruptcy on both businesses on Tuesday, January 31, 2017, according to a story in the Mercury News<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Cartel Management Inc. and Titans of Mavericks LLC, . . . filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid a sea of legal and financial problems. . . It\u2019s unclear exactly what the twin bankruptcies mean for the contest this year and in years to come, since Cartel last year obtained a new five-year permit from the San Mateo County Harbor District to run the contest off Pillar Point.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But there is more:<\/p>\n The bankruptcies come on the heels of a judgment this fall in which jurors found Cartel and Guess\u2019s wife, swimsuit model Marissa Miller<\/strong>, owed a company $1 million for breaching a contract to promote sunless tanning products and a tanning salon in Southern California. . . On Friday, Red Bull Media House<\/strong> filed a breach of contract and unlawful enrichment claim against Cartel and Titans of Mavericks for $400,000. Red Bull has broadcast the Mavericks contest live on the internet. . . Cartel also owes $280,000 to Fox Sports<\/strong> in another disputed claim, according to the bankruptcy filing. The harbor district is owed $6,600 as part of the government contract involving the Mavericks contest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Guess says none of this should really worry fans of big wave surfing as the bankruptcy is part of a “strategy” to sell off the intellectual property rights and get them into the hands of someone who can “gain from all our hard work,” he said.<\/p>\n In fact, Titans of Mavericks spokesperson Kelsey Kaulukukui<\/strong> said in an email to the Mercury News<\/em> that none of this should suggest that the contest won’t happen this year. Remember, bankruptcy is just big business’s way of saying, “whoops.”<\/p>\n