Roberto de Jesús Escobar Gaviria (born January 13, 1947), nicknamed El Osito (“the little teddy bear”), is the brother of the late drug lord Pablo Escobar , and the former accountant and co-founder of the Medellín Cartel , which was responsible for as much as 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States.
He was the eldest son of Abel de Jesús de Escobar and Hermilda Gaviria. Passionate about cycling since childhood, he won third place in the team event of the National Cycling Championship of Colombia and achieved 37 victories in cycling in one year, being the second athlete of the year of the department of Antioquia, surpassed by Martin Emilio “Cochise” Rodriguez. He also coached the Colombian cycling team in international competitions.
His nickname El Osito (“the little teddy bear”) comes from the fact that during an arrival of the caravan in Medellín, in which he was leading the race, a downpour fell on the uncovered highway that had already turned into a river of mud. The tires of his bicycle sent the mud towards his face until it was completely covered, leaving only his eyes visible. When he reached the finish line, the radio journalist broadcasting the podium said: “Here comes Roberto Escobar Gaviria, who looks more like a teddy bear.”
For his part in the operations of the Medellín Cartel, Roberto Escobar succeeded his cousin Gustavo Gaviria after he was captured in 1991. He escaped with his brother in July 1992, but surrendered to the authorities a year later. On December 18, 1993, while still in prison, he was blinded in one eye by a letter bomb sent by Los Pepes . The prison bombing also left him partially deaf for life. He lost sixty percent of his hearing.
After more than a decade in prison, he was released in 2006. In the 2009 book The Accountant’s Story, Roberto Escobar tells his story as the cartel’s chief accountant. The book contains many unusual facts, such as that the cartel lost billions of dollars eaten by rats or damaged by water in storage, and that the cartel spent up to $2,500 a month buying rubber bands to hold together stacks of money.
In 2014, he re-established Escobar Inc. with Olof K. Gustafsson and registered his brother’s successor-in-interest rights in California, United States. On July 1, 2016, he sent a letter to Netflix over the Narcos TV series demanding $1 billion in payment for unauthorized use of content. In January 2019, he launched a GoFundMe fundraiser in an effort to impeach President Donald Trump.
In July 2019, Escobar began selling a propane torch designed to resemble a flamethrower and accused The Boring Company CEO Elon Musk of intellectual property theft, alleging that The Boring Company’s promotional Not-a-Flamethrower was based on a design Escobar discussed with an engineer affiliated with Musk in 2017. Through the media, Escobar publicly offered Musk to settle the dispute for $100 million in cash or Tesla stock, or alternatively use the legal system to become the new CEO of Tesla, Inc.
In December 2019, Escobar announced a foldable phone, the Escobar Fold 1. The phone retailed for $349. Escobar said, “I’ve told a lot of people I’m going to beat Apple — and I will.” He claimed that it could only be destroyed by fire. Two months later, on February 10, 2020, the Escobar Fold 2 was released, reportedly a Galaxy Fold with poorly added Escobar branding. Many customers said they never received the phones when they ordered them, with only tech influencers actually receiving products. It is also alleged that Escobar Inc sent out fake product orders, consisting of a book, allowing Escobar Inc to claim the phone had been delivered. In May 2020, the company released a refurbished version of the iPhone 11 Pro and reportedly sued Apple for $2.6 billion.
