The Bag Man and his companies
This story is about the man the bank sent to help my grandparents
I tell stories from the front and back lines of the newsroom. This story is about the man the bank sent to help my grandparents.
After my latest story about Adam Kotkin, a fellow Stark Trust beneficiary asked me, “What was he doing in 2024?” I told them that his financial history was too vast for one newsletter. This is a continuation of that story.
To get you up to speed: the bank managing my grandfather’s estate recommended a man come to their house to personally help with their financial affairs. I taught adult computer classes in high school. This is an essential service. So, when the Bag Man appeared, I helped him in any way I could. I named this man the Bag Man because I couldn’t find any credentials pointing to why the bank sent him to help manage an estate this massive. The only credential I found since is his notary license.
The Points Guy
November 2016
According to his LinkedIn, the Bag Man was the remote Chief of Staff at The Point Guy for two years and six months.
April 29, 2017
The travel blog credits the Bag Man as a “TPG booking expert” helping a TPG staffer find a last-minute, cost-saving flight itinerary from Madrid to New York via Moscow on Aeroflot. He made the travel arrangements for my grandfather’s funeral. On the day he died. Using Papa’s personal email.
October 26, 2017
The Bag Man wrote a first-person review of a business-class flight with his partner from Berlin to Moscow on MIAT Mongolian Airlines, part of an eight-day Russia trip, booked through American Express Platinum concierge service for $441.58 per ticket.
December 14, 2017
I ran this article through GPT Zero, AI detection software, because I didn’t think human bloggers wrote in passive voice with em dashes. It was 100% human-written. This makes sense given the date of the blog. It just needed a second set of eyes. The story was about an overnight sleeper train from Moscow to St. Petersburg, booking a Grand Imperial Cabin for approximately $425 for himself and his partner.
February 13, 2018
Travel blog founder Brian Kelly referenced “fellow TPG employee” having a similar villa-square-footage discrepancy experience at the Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui. This story corroborates the Bag Man’s employment at TPG as of February 2018 via third-party mention rather than his own byline.
May 18, 2018
TPG’s writer identified the Bag Man by name as “The Points Guy’s chief-of-staff” and reports that Miami-based planner Jamie Lipman Rodriguez of Absolute Event Full Wedding & Event Planning Service organized his wedding in South Florida.
July 21, 2018
The Bag Man bylines another first-person review of a two-night weekend stay at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando with his partner, describing it as an in-state “staycation” roughly a three-hour drive from home.
August 26, 2018
You need to know my New-England-elitist position on travel bloggers: I internally judge pay-to-play travel influencers. I am close friends with lots of traveling journalists, and I value their work. The Bag bylined another first-person review of a stay at the Park Hyatt Bangkok with his partner, booked via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and upgraded to a suite through his Hyatt Globalist elite status.
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November 4, 2018
The Bag Man displays his elite-presenting lifestyle through another first-person review of a family trip to Hong Kong for his mother’s milestone birthday. He gave up his seat to Princess Ubolratana of Thailand on a Korean Air flight and stayed at the Conrad Hong Kong with his family during Golden Week.
November 5, 2018
The next day: another first-person travel review. I want to knock the narrative point of view. But I know what and how I write here on Substack for over a year. The Bag Man wrote a hotel review of the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund. It was a family trip with his parents and partner. He noted using an Amex Platinum and Hilton Aspire card to secure upgrades and credits.
February 14, 2019
The Bag Man describes himself as “a Floridian who frequently travels to New York City for work.” He reviewed a four-night stay at the Parker New York, which he booked using his Citi Prestige Card’s 4th-night-free perk. The Bag Man described his soon-to-expire Hyatt Globalist elite status and his history of staying at the property back when it was Le Parker Méridien.
November 6, 2019
The Bag Man checked in on Facebook to The Points Guy (TPG HQ).
March 14, 2020
Business Insider published an exposé on the toxic culture at The Points Guy. The founder/CEO faced accusations of verbal abuse and public shaming. The Bag Man is listed as the former chief of staff in the story. The only comment he gave about his former boss and the allegations against him was that if his boss didn’t want to run the company, “he probably wouldn’t be there.”
The Savings Concierge Guy
February 13, 2014
The Bag Man was operating solely as a single-member LLC manager at a single apartment address in Miami Beach.
April 24, 2018
The Savings Concierge, LLC voluntarily dissolved.
The Krab Guy
March 28, 2019
A licensed attorney served as the registered agent.
November 13, 2020
The company moved its registered address to Naples, FL. The first of three at this same address.
February 12, 2021
Krab Holdings, LLC voluntarily dissolved.
August 8, 2022
The Bag Man checked in on Facebook to Martha’s Vineyard. The Stark Family sold property on the Vineyard on October 27, 2016.
The RPM Guy
RPM Interactive
The company was originally incorporated in Nevada on June 16, 2022 as “SmarterVerse, Inc.,” then renamed “Dragon Interactive Corporation” in February 2024, then “Dragon Interact Corporation” in August 2024, and finally “RPM Interactive, Inc.” in November 2024.
2024
LinkedIn lists RPM Interactive as founded in 2024. It’s listed as being headquartered in New York, NY. RPM lists one employee on LinkedIn: a contractor named “Michael Frain.” RPM was his only position.
May 28, 2025
RPM Interactive, Inc. nominates the Bag Man for its board of directors. He personally signed a “Consent to Be Named as a Director Nominee,” filed as Exhibit 10.1 to RPM Interactive, Inc.’s Form S-1 registration statement.
June 16, 2025
RPM Interactive, Inc. filed for a $15 million IPO, planning to list on Nasdaq under the ticker RPMI, with The Benchmark Company as sole bookrunner. As of the June 2025 filing, the company had never generated revenue since inception, reported a $2,076,592 net loss for 2024, an accumulated deficit of $6,067,579, and explicit “going concern” doubt from its auditors. DatChat and its CEO together held roughly 39% beneficial ownership pre-IPO, with DatChat still owed a $5 million related-party payable that was under settlement discussion at filing time.
Bag Man’s SEC Bio:
2003 (implied earlier): no earlier roles disclosed before BigString Corporation
BigString Corporation: Co-founder, COO and Board Member (undated in this excerpt, but described as over a decade of public company work)
PeopleString Corporation: COO and Board Member
Fal Exploration Inc. (formerly Apps Genius): CEO
2017 to March 2020: Chief of Staff, The Points Guy (TPG)
Now: Director nominee, RPM Interactive, slated for the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee
Education: NYU, Bachelor of Arts in Economics, graduated with distinction
RPM DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder)
As seen in the Internet Archive, the company’s website lists several purposes throughout the years:
1996: A British man wrote about classic cars on this site in the 90s. The man later set up a redirect to the author’s new homepage. It has nothing to do with RPM Interactive.
2024: RPM Interactive’s own corporate mission statement evolved: RPM described itself as “a publisher of AI-generated consumer gaming and podcasting/vodcasting apps,” with a belief that “the future of content and entertainment lies in niche audiences with highly engaged viewers and listeners,” using generative AI to create interactive content at scale.
2025: The app company’s new vision is "to democratize high quality media production, enabling creators to inform and entertain audiences faster, more frequently, and at a dramatically lower cost."
December 2025
Avalon GloboCare Corp., a Freehold, NJ-based precision diagnostics company, acquired RPM Interactive, Inc. in an all-stock transaction.
The SMAK Guy
April 2019
RPM’s S-1 listed the Bag Man as president of SMAK Services Inc. This role overlaps with his final months at TPG. The bio describes his post-TPG work as consulting on “financial management, legal engagements, and asset management for high-net-worth individuals.” He has been the sole officer, director, incorporator and registered agent of SMAKZ CORP continuously since formation. The Bag Man personally signed and self-certified under oath every single one of these filings himself, meaning there’s no indication of a corporate secretary, accountant or third party handling this paperwork on his behalf.
April 2019 to December 2021: President, SMAK Services Inc.
January 2022 to present: President, SMAKZ Corp.
April 5, 2019
Stephane Mazade was Vice President of SMAK Services Inc. from its founding in April 2019.
February 26, 2020
SMAK changed its address from Fort Lauderdale, FL to another place in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Both Mazade and the Bag Man are listed in the corporate filing.
February 6, 2021
SMAK changed its address a second time. In this filing, SMAK moved to the Krab address in Naples, Florida. It no longer lists a Vice President.
December 5, 2021
SMAK Services Inc. formally dissolved, just 32 days before SMAKZ CORP’s Articles of Incorporation were filed on January 06, 2022. Critically, the dissolution states: “none of the corporation’s shares have been issued” and “no debt of the corporation remains unpaid.”
January 2, 2022
SMAKZ Corp. stated effective date of incorporation per Article VIII, meaning the company was legally formed on this date even though the filing was processed four days later. The near-immediate one-month gap between dissolving SMAK Services Inc. and incorporating SMAKZ CORP, at the same address, with the same principal, strongly supports a “rebrand” interpretation over an unrelated new venture. However, the stated reason for the switch (name change preference, tax restructuring, fresh EIN, etc.) isn’t disclosed. Florida law does permit a name amendment rather than full dissolution and reincorporation.
January 6, 2022
Electronic Articles of Incorporation are filed with the Florida Secretary of State. SMAKZ CORP is registered as a Florida Profit Corporation, with the Bag Man listed as the Registered Agent. The initial registered address lists Naples, FL, as both principal place of business and mailing address at formation. The initial structure listed the Bag Man as simultaneously the sole incorporator, sole registered agent and sole officer/director (Title “P,” meaning President) from day one, with authorization to issue 100 shares.
January 23, 2023
The Smakz Corp.’s Annual Report listed its first address change from Naples to Wilton Manors, Florida.
July 26, 2024
A civil lawsuit (Yuthasunthorn v. Mazade and Kotkin, Broward Case No. CACE24010621) named the Bag Man as a defendant over a fence encroachment dispute at a separate property he co-owns with business partner Stephane Mazade in Fort Lauderdale.
February 7, 2026
Florida Profit Corporation Annual Report filed, which also functions as a Statement of Change, updating the registered office and registered agent address from 27th Street to Almar Dr, both in Wilton Manors.
At the funeral, the Bag Man bragged about starting SMAKZ with my step-grandmother.
I will tell you about when I first talked to the Bag Man next week. This is all I found so far regarding the Bag Man’s business credentials. The bank sent him to help my grandparents pay their bills. Would you let this guy handle your grandparents’ finances?
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