The Fraudster Who Owned Polaroid

Polaroid went bankrupt twice. The second time, its owner was Tom Petters, a Minnesota businessman later sentenced to 50 years in prison for a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, as prosecutors described it. At the same moment, two strangers were trying to save the last Polaroid film factory on earth, without the recipe. This is the story of how instant film survived the company that made it. We follow Edwin Land's 1947 demonstration and the SX-70, the patent war that forced Kodak out of instant photography, Polaroid's first bankruptcy in 2001, and the two very different bets placed on the Polaroid name in 2005. Then the factory in Enschede, Netherlands closes in 2008, Florian Kaps meets engineer André Bosman at the closing ceremony, and the Impossible Project buys the machines just as federal agents raid Petters Group Worldwide. With the chemistry gone and the ingredients discontinued, a handful of people had to reinvent instant film from scratch. The first packs were barely usable. Today the factory makes the film sold as Polaroid. How much do you think Polaroid is still worth as a name? Tell us in the comments. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Polaroid died twice 0:39 What Polaroid film really was 1:49 The stunt that started it 2:42 The first death 3:35 Two bets on one name 4:32 The factory closes 5:38 The ceremony in Enschede 7:07 The race for the machines 7:46 The owner's arrest 8:46 The second bankruptcy 9:40 The missing recipe 10:40 The first film 11:59 Where the money came from 13:28 The factory today 📚 SOURCES • Time, "After Polaroid, Keeping Instant Photography Alive" (21 Jul 2009) • Bloomberg Businessweek, David Sax, "The Company That's Keeping the Polaroid Legacy Alive" (11 Apr 2016) • NPO Kennis, "Waarom zijn polaroids nog steeds zo populair?" (Jun 2020) • Dan Finnen, "The Early Films, Failures, and Triumphs of the Impossible Project" • Harvard Business School Baker Library, "Instant Photography Is Launched" • SEC filing on the Petters Group acquisition of Polaroid (7 Jan 2005) • Star Tribune (Feb and Oct 2008); MPR News (17 Apr 2009); Bloomberg (17 Apr 2009); Reuters • U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota (Petters case) • Fast Company (Mar 2010); Technologizer (2011); PetaPixel, "A Look Inside Polaroid's Only Film Factory on Earth" (Mar 2025) ℹ️ Narration is AI-generated (synthetic voice). Statements about the Ponzi scheme are attributed to prosecutors and court records. This channel is not affiliated with Polaroid, Impossible, Kodak or Fujifilm. #Polaroid #InstantFilm #BusinessHistory #TomPetters #ImpossibleProject