There have been numerous petitions launched by shareholders regarding Mullen Automotive.  It is foolish to assume that a change.org petition will have any impact on Mullen’s operating activities or corporate governance.  The mechanism for that is via shareholder proposals to be voted on at the Annual Meeting.  But the creators of those petitions were apparently unaware of that mechanism and are now unable to avail themselves of it until 2024 (at which point some hopefully will).

Petitions can, however, demonstrate investor sentiment and persuade management to improve their communication with Mullen shareholders and the investing public.  It is with that goal in mind that we are initiating this petition.

With the collapse in the share price of Mullen Automotive, CEO David Michery has begun to engage in extensive outreach to individual social media influencers.  As most are aware, he conducted an “interview” on June 29 with prominent YouTube content provider @FinancialJourney.  As the questions were pre-approved and the final content edited by the Mullen Marketing Team, “interview” is a mischaracterization.  It was merely a promotional video.

The “questions” and lack of meaningful follow-up in that interview can generously be described as “softballs.”

We believe that Mullen Automotive and Mr. Michery owe the investing public an opportunity to ask tough questions.  While the community could easily come up with hundreds, most of which Mr. Michery would be unable or unwilling to respond to, this petition will limit it to ten (though there are related enquiries to each broad question).  All seem easy to answer, some are easy but unpalatable, some will likely be of interest to NASDAQ and the SEC.

This is NOT an undemanding challenge, but Mr. Michery has made his bed, now he must lie in it.

We challenge Mr. Michery to respond to these ten questions in a timely fashion.

1.      In your interview you stated that Mullen has 400 employees.  The last 10-k indicated just 118 so we are looking at more than a tripling of headcount without any announcement of what is clearly a material development.  How many employees did Mullen have as of June 29?

2.      Did you misstate Mullen’s Market Capitalization on June 30 when you said it was just $26 million according to Yahoo Finance?  Were you not aware that the Prospectus filed with the SEC on June 26 stated that shares outstanding were 643 Million as of June 22, giving a Market Cap on June 29 of $71 million, triple what you had claimed?

3.      According to @BoysPadre on twitter, you spoke with him regarding production on June 20 and told him "look at the plant parking lots, those are not old ELMS inventory."  The vans in the Tunica parking lot on that date appear completely identical to the Wuling vans ELMS imported.  Are they really not ELMS vans?  If not, where did they come from?  Did Mullen manufacture them from the ground up under license?  Did Mullen import them separately and rebadge them?  Could you provide a sampling of VIN numbers of those vans from the lot?

4.      Many observers, including Hindenburg Research, have noted that no Mullen vehicles have an EPA Certificate of Conformity.  The EPA website states that “every vehicle introduced into commerce in the United States” must have such Certificate.  Does that mean that Randy Marion is unable to resell the 22 vans until you get the EPA Certificates?  

5.      Is an EPA Certificate of Conformity, and eligibility for sale, one of the factors required for you to be rewarded 3% of outstanding shares under the vehicle completion milestone under Proposal 7 at the General Meeting?

6.      You have indicated production numbers of 660 Class One vans and 930 Class 3 trucks by the end of the year.  How many full time production employees will Tunica require to hit that production goal?

7.      How many full time production employees does Mullen have in Tunica today, July 4, 2023?

8.      You have promised “production” in July.  Could you clarify what “production” means?  Are you building vehicles from the ground up from raw materials? Are you assembling components from Wuling or another OEM into finished vehicles?  Or does your definition of “production” consist of merely adding minor components (such as airbags or bumpers) and rebadging vehicles largely manufactured elsewhere?

9.      During the last year and in the coming proxy statement you refer to Mary Winter as an Independent Director?  As she is an officer of the company, Secretary, how can she be classified as Independent?  Was she one of the “independent non-interested” directors who approved your compensation package?  What is Ms. Winter’s relationship to Alicia Winter, who presents herself on social media as Alicia Michery?  What is your current and past relationship with Alicia Winter?

10.   Are you aware of the NASDAQ IM on Rule 5250 stating “In certain circumstances, it may also be appropriate to publicly deny false or inaccurate rumors, which are likely to have, or have had, an effect on the trading in its securities or would likely have an influence on investment decisions”?

You were certainly very aware of the rampant rumors promulgated by Mr. Lawrence Hardge, (and abetted by your hand-picked mouthpiece, Calum Rodger @FinancialJourney) about an imminent $10 Billion deal with Saudi Arabia of which Mullen would be a beneficiary.  Why did you not act to dispel this rumor?  While the agreement with Mr. Hardge included a carve out for the United Arab Emirates, you must have been aware that that is a separate nation from Saudi Arabia, right?

 

Once this petition gains 1000 signatures it will be submitted to Mr. Michery and each of Mullen's independent directors via both email and certified mail.

Upon 1000 signatures a website will be created: 10questionsfordavidmichery.com listing these questions and including a counter indicating how many days it has been without a response from Mullen or Mr. Michery.

There is a very real possibility that 1000 signatures is an insurmountable hurdle as many Mullen investors may not wish to hear the answers to some of these questions.  But it can't hurt to ask.