Huckelberry And World View – Lost In Space With A Big Oops!

World View balloon explosion

On March 8, 2018, Pima County Administrator Charles H. Huckelberry sent copies of World View Enterprises Annual Report to the Board of Supervisors, declaring, “Enclosed is World View’s 2017 Annual Report.  World View continues to operate as a successful startup enterprise classified as a technology organization on the forefront of stratospheric space development.”

Oops!  # 1:  What he actually sent them was the “Annual Report Summary for Pima County,” and not a regulation annual report.  Missing is any financial data, recent events (like the hydrogen balloon explosion in December), risk factors, and lots of other data required by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission in an annual report.  A “Major Events” page leaves the explosion out.  The company, which has received some $17 million from Pima County taxpayers, “declined to disclose” its revenue range to the SEC, but did note that 21 investors had bought about $15 million in company stock.

Oops!  # 2:  World View is actually registered with the SEC as an “Other Travel” business and not as a “technology organization.”   The price for a balloon ride to the edge of space is $75,000.  That’s for people or KFC chicken sandwiches.

Oops!  # 3:  While the report is for Pima County, it is nowhere mentioned that World View is actually incorporated in Delaware.  According to LegalZoom.com, “Delaware has a long history of corporation-friendly laws. In addition, Delaware’s tax laws allow corporations to be taxed at a low rate in Delaware and avoid higher taxes in their home states.”  Are our Supervisors aware of that?

Oops! # 4:  Huckelberry told the Supervisors, “World View’s anchoring the Aerospace Research Campus has been instrumental in attracting the attention of other space-related employers and industries such as Vector Space….”The Summary Report states that World View “heavily participated in the recruitment of Vector Space to Tucson as its global HQ.”

Vector also has operations in San Jose and Los Alamitos, California, and according to CNBC News, “Rocket company Vector will conduct three commercial missions from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops launch center.  This is the first orbital contract with a spaceport for Vector, the next major step toward the company’s goal of launching more than 100 times per year, chief executive Jim Cantrell told CNBC in an exclusive interview.”

Oops! # 5:  There is no mention in either Huckelberry’s memo or the “Annual Report Summary for Pima County” of the present “independent” investigation of the December explosion or when the results will be made public.

The County Administrator’s memo and World View’s “Annual Report Summary for Pima County,” can be accessed at click here.

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