Purecell Day (3)

(Omitted)

This report was written by David Lockhart, representative of Continue Capital.

In an interview, he stated, "Everything about Thomas Motors is a lie. Selling the stock immediately is the only way to reduce your losses even a little." He also said he would release all relevant information so that investors would suffer no further damage.

According to him, the T2 FCV unveiled at the event was not a real vehicle at all, but a model incapable of driving, and the supposed acquisition of GM’s stake and the hydrogen-truck production partnership had never actually taken place.

(Omitted)

As everyone knows, Thomas Motors has not released a single car to date. It has announced hydrogen production, hydrogen charging stations, and equity acquisitions in various hydrogen startups, but it still has no revenue model of any kind. Even so, CEO Brad Button pocketed a $30 million bonus just last year.

That was only possible because investor money kept flowing in.

David Lockhart pointed out that Thomas Motors bore all the hallmarks of a classic Ponzi scheme.

As long as new money kept coming in, there was no problem. The moment investors stopped putting in cash and started asking for it back, however, the whole thing would collapse like a sandcastle.

So why had no one pointed out the problem sooner?

A large part of the blame lay with the mainstream media. For years, reporters had been too busy writing success myths about startups without doing proper fact-checking.

Thomas Motors was similar to Therapis in many ways.

It had raised money by selling only future value and nothing else, leaning on the personal popularity of its CEO; it had poured the money it collected not into technology development or production, but into massive events and publicity campaigns instead.

After the Therapis scandal broke, the press was accused of being complicit, and there was even some self-criticism within the media itself at the time.

But once again, the media had repeated the same mistake.

As for the T1 FCV footage Thomas Motors had released, the truth could have been established with a single simple test at the site.

Yet not one of the many outlets bothered to verify it; instead, they all ran articles calling it "hydrogen truck driving footage," even though the CEO had never even said it had been driven.

David Lockhart warned investors that this incident was likely to go down as yet another fraud case after Therapis.

After reading Trish O'Connor’s article, Brad Button smashed things inside his office and screamed.

"Aaaagh! God damn it!"

He had been completely played by some unknown bastards.

They had clearly come into the venue with this exact outcome in mind from the start.

"This is a total humiliation!"

Money could turn lies into truth and dreams into reality.

Investors had been lining up, eager to put their money in. If one thought about the brilliant future hydrogen energy was supposed to bring, the losses in the present didn’t seem like much at all.

If the technology didn’t exist, they could just buy it.

They had formed partnerships with various companies, including Hwaan Energy and GM, and were still courting Daeyeon Motors. If they could build a global value chain like this, they would truly be able to make hydrogen cars.

It’s still fine. I can still persuade the public and investors.

He forced himself to calm down and think rationally.

He had faced crises like this countless times before. But he had overcome every one of them and grown the company this far.

With the right explanation, things would recover as if nothing had happened.

First, I need to announce a cooperation deal with Hwaan Energy on hydrogen infrastructure right away and shift everyone’s attention there.

Hwaan Group held 8.5 percent of Thomas Motors’ shares. If only to protect the value of their own stake, they would gladly step forward.

He was hurrying to prepare a statement for the press when—an explosive article broke.

Seeing that, Brad Button’s eyes went wide.

Hwaan Energy canceled the deal and sold off all of its shares?

He could hardly believe it.

Heo Min-woong, the son of Hwaan Group’s chairman and a manager at Hwaan Energy, had come to the United States for the hydrogen infrastructure partnership.

Only moments ago, they had been face-to-face, discussing ways to cooperate. So what in the world had happened?

Come to think of it...

The reporter who had asked questions at the event had been sent by Hwaan Energy. The people with her had been from there too.

No way...

Brad Button immediately called Heo Min-woong at Hwaan Energy and asked, almost accusingly, "What is the meaning of this?"

Heo Min-woong shot back in a flat voice.

"Meaning what?"

"Is it true that you sold all your shares?"

"Ah, that? Yes. It’s true."

"Then what about the hydrogen infrastructure agreement?"

"Did that agreement even mean anything?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What’s the point of building hydrogen charging stations when you don’t even have a hydrogen car?"

"What?"

Heo Min-woong’s voice turned glacial.

"You unveiled an empty shell as a brand-new car at the event."

"Th-that was because of circumstances...."

"I’m curious what kind of circumstances were important enough for you to hide them even from me."

"I’ll explain it in person. Where are you right now?"

"Before that, let me ask you something too. That T1 FCV driving footage you released last time. Did you roll it down a hill, or not? I’m recording this call, so answer carefully."

“……”

At that question, Brad Button could not answer at all.

Heo Min-woong said, as if he had expected exactly that.

"You take me for an idiot?"

"Please calm down a little... "

"Just what the hell are you? Is there even a shred of truth in anything you’ve said?"

Brad Button swallowed back the urge to scream and said, "Let’s just meet and talk, all right?"

"Forget it. We’re going to verify every false statement in the documents your company sent us and file suit against you, so you’d better start preparing your defense."

“……”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Right up until the moment the incident broke, Thomas Motors’ stock had been climbing.

It had broken through its previous high and reached $65. Then the unveiled new car was exposed as a model, and the event descended into total chaos.

When that footage went out, the stock instantly lost 30 percent. The shock was severe, but bargain hunters stepped in and managed to hold the line around $40.

An event going wrong wasn’t exactly common, but it wasn’t unheard of either.

Everyone was waiting for CEO Brad Button’s explanation.

But before any explanation could even come out, Trish O'Connor of the Wall Street Times released David Lockhart’s interview along with a mountain of supporting evidence.

On top of that, Hwaan Energy announced that it had canceled the agreement and sold all of its shares.

To be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fair, for ordinary people it was hard to tell whether Thomas Motors really possessed unique technology or not.

That was why partnerships with major corporations had functioned as proof of their technical credibility, and Thomas Motors had marketed itself that way all along.

But that proof had just been reduced to scrap paper.

Once it became clear that the most important partner had turned its back on them, Thomas Motors’ stock began to nosedive.

The shares that had climbed to $65 crashed almost instantly to $12.