1791 Management demands Bill T. Gross of IdeaLabs step down from Energy Vault (NRGV) and Heliogen’s (HLGN) Board of Directors

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SENT VIA PERSONAL DELIVERY, U.S. MAIL, ELECTRONIC MAIL

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Mr. Bill T Gross, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of IdeaLabs, Heliogen and Co-founder, Board Member of Energy Vault 
130 W. Union Street, Pasadena, CA 91103
bill@heliogen.com | bill.gross@idealab.com

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May 10, 2022

Dear Mr. Bill T Gross:

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I am still waiting on your response to my hand-delivered letters to the following addresses you are associated with:

 

Energy Vault (NRGV), Founder, Board Member
4360 Park Terrace Drive, Suite 100 Westlake Village, CA 91361

 

Heliogen (HLGN), Founder, CEO, Board Chairman
130 W. Union St. Pasadena, CA 91103

IdeaLab, Founder, CEO, Board Chairman
130 W. Union Street Pasadena, CA 91103

 

Helena.org; Co-Investor
515 S Flower St, Suite 5100 Los Angeles, CA 90071

 

Berggruen Institute; Board Member Affiliation
304 S. Broadway, Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90013

 

Due to your refusal to respond to our hand-delivered letters and numerous calls/emails, should I surmise your refusal to respond is because you are too busy re-stating Heliogn’s historical earnings due to the inappropriate realization of “Revenue from Contract with Customers?” If so, should Energy Vault public shareholders expect that same “re-evaluation of revenue” related to what appears to be a bogus contract with Michael Darcy (DG Fuels) used only to deceive your public shareholders into believing Energy Vault has a business? As an aside, did Darcy ever get the $10 billion in federal tax credits to create the hundreds of green jobs using “heliostats — moving mirror-like objects used to focus and concentrate solar energy.” To me, this sounds oddly familiar to Heliogen (HGLN). Furthermore, it gives me the impression that you and Michael Darcy of DG Fuels are all cozied up again. What I believe to be the problem now is that you have public shareholders for which I would consider you defrauding.

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If you were not already aware, 1791 Management LLC ("1791") manages certain entities that hold Energy Vault Holdings shares (“Energy Value” or the “Company”). Our position is not a sign we believe Energy Vault will ever amount to anything. On the contrary, we believe you, Mr. Gross, designed and are implementing a strategy to profiteer at the expense of public investors under the guise of saving the planet (not too dissimilar to the guise of helping humanity and empowering people to be fulfilled like Theranos and WeWork). In fact, we view the similarities of your strategy to that of Theranos and WeWork as undeniable. In the former, an unworkable technology, and the latter, SoftBank’s involvement.

 

Based on our exhaustive research of you, your companies, and your collaborators, we can only suspect that your goal in “SPAC-ing” your failed ventures is your attempt to reap risk-free profits at the expense of your public shareholders. Our view is that Energy Vault is nothing more than a shell company faking revenue for you and your cronies to escape with the loot. I was especially impressed with your press release stating you agreed to “More than Double Size” size of the DG Fuels Sales Contract. Which had me wondering, why not make the sales contract $10 billion, or even $100 billion? I believe we, you, and Darcy can agree that the number used is irrelevant.  

 

To us, what doesn’t make sense is why you had to use OPM (“other people’s money”) when it appears you and your cronies have plenty. To add insult to shareholder injury, your hand-picked an incestuous board of directors that has what we believe to have zero alignment with the interests of your public investors.

 

In this day and age, I have to wonder under what Theory of Corporate Governance does one only select his cronies to set on the Board of Directors. Who on the Energy Vault Board of Directors is representing the shares you duped via your use of a SPAC transaction? To be more specific, who on this current list of your board of directors gives a dam about the public investors:

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Robert Allen Piconi

Bill Gross

Zia Huque

Henry Elkus

MaryBeth Mandanas

Thomas Ertel

Larry Paulson

We can only surmise that greed and inflated egos is motivating all action by Energy Vault, rather than your shareholder's pocketbooks. It is time for you to step down from your position on the Energy Vault Board of Directors and have someone appointed to look out for your public shareholders.

 

 

Very truly yours,

Jonathan Wallentine

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