The Inertia Contributing Writer

As you may recall from last winter, Cartel Management, the company that owns Titans of Mavericks, filed for bankruptcy, throwing into question the future of the iconic big wave contest.

At least according to Cartel, one valuable counterweight to the $2.7 million in debt it carries is a five-year event permit. Now, Griffin Guess, the owner of Cartel and Titans, is trying to cash in by auctioning off that permit to the highest bidder.

But before we get to that, there’s more news: Mavericks pioneer Jeff Clark and his wife Cassandra Clark claim that Cartel owes them $2.1 million, according to bankruptcy documents filed last month. (Read on for how that could figure in.)

In a move that Dr. Evil would approve of, Guess wants to open bidding for the permit at…One. Million. Dollars. Next week, a bankruptcy judge in Los Angeles will decide if this sale is legally kosher. If Guess gets his way, the auction will take place on June 1, with bidding beginning at $1 million. Higher bids would only be accepted in increments of $100,000. Any bidder would have to pay a refundable $50,000 just to enter the bidding room. May not be a bad haul for a permit that originally cost $11,600.

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