TLDR:
Key points:
- Matthew Brown, a self-proclaimed venture capitalist, made a fake offer to buy Virgin Orbit for $200 million.
- He submitted a fake bank account statement claiming to have $182 million when in reality, he had less than $1 in his account.
In a bizarre turn of events, Matthew Brown, a self-proclaimed venture capitalist from Dallas-Fort Worth, is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for making a fraudulent offer to purchase Richard Branson’s satellite company, Virgin Orbit. Brown, the owner of investment managing firm Matthew Brown Companies LLC, made a fake offer of $200 million to acquire Virgin Orbit. In March 2023, he submitted a doctored picture of a bank account statement showing a balance of $182 million, causing the company’s stock to rise by 33.1 percent. Brown claimed he could “write” the $200 million purchase, but in reality, his account had less than $1.
The SEC lawsuit alleges that Brown sent unsolicited messages to Virgin Orbit’s CEO and Vice President of Investor Relations, falsely portraying himself as an experienced venture capitalist with investments in space companies. Brown even appeared on CNBC to discuss the deal, where he made misleading statements about his credentials and the legitimacy of his offer. He tried to persuade Virgin Orbit to commit to a break-up fee, but the deal never materialized.
Virgin Orbit, founded in 2017, filed for bankruptcy in May 2023 and ceased operations. Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin Group, is the founder of the satellite company. Brown, on the other hand, is listed as a shareholder and senior advisor for Partager, an aerospace venture capital firm, and as a General Partner for Energent, LP, a climate-focused investment management company. Brown’s spokesperson refuted the SEC lawsuit’s claims and stated that they will not settle until vindicated by the rule of law.
