The logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon SongThe logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon Song
The logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon Song
Robert Boxwell
Opinion

Opinion

Robert Boxwell

Luckin Coffee fraud is a cautionary tale for investors and US regulators

  • In an industry that has its fair share of naive investors and con artists, the improbability of Luckin’s claims and business model should have been easy to spot
  • Luckin’s fraud could not have come at a worse time for China’s honest businesspeople

Robert Boxwell
Robert Boxwell

Updated: 9:04pm, 19 Jul, 2020

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The logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon SongThe logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon Song
The logo of Luckin Coffee is seen on the window of a shop in Beijing. Luckin’s conceit was that it was going to have more stores in China than Starbucks – which it did – and that it was somehow going to transform coffee into a tech business, which it didn’t. Photo: Simon Song
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