Meme Stock Mullen Is Drowning Its Investors in Shares
The electric vehicle company has issued a ton of stock as its value collapsed.
A Mullen Five electric vehicle prototype on display in 2021.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergMeme stock and retail investor darling Mullen Automotive Inc. is ostensibly in the business of making electric cars. For now, its most plentiful product is its own shares.
There are now are almost 1.7 billion Mullen shares outstanding, compared with fewer than 25 million a year ago, and soon the authorized total could increase to as many as 5 billion, according to recent financial filings. Several hundred million of these shares change hands on a typical day, making it one of the most active of all US stocks in volume terms. Mullen is case study for the dangers of creeping shareholder dilution and how as the tech bubble bursts, retail investors can find themselves taken for a ride.