Company Views Mr. Hall’s Latest Actions as
Attempt to Divert Attention from the Serious and Ongoing
Arbitration Regarding his Theft of Confidential Intellectual
Property
Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLDR, VLDRW) today responded to
the latest false statements contained in David Hall’s August 23,
2021 open letter to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).
The Company believes that this latest missive from David Hall is
part of an ongoing, self-serving and deceptive campaign in which he
has used false statements to disparage the Company's Board and
distract attention from his own repeated pattern of misconduct.
This misconduct dates back to Mr. Hall’s failure to operate with
respect, honesty, integrity, and candor in his dealings with
Company officers and directors, resulting in his censure and
removal as Chairman of the Board.
The Velodyne Board and management team are continuing to execute
on a strategy designed to drive long-term growth for the Company
and value for stockholders. Under the Board’s oversight, Velodyne
Lidar remains focused on meeting the requirements of its customers,
setting production records and delivering significant progress on
its growth plans. The Company continues to innovate on its
cutting-edge, award-winning products to advance its strong pipeline
and meet demand for its revolutionary hardware and software
solutions.
David Hall is Attempting to Divert Attention from the Ongoing
Arbitration Regarding his Theft of Confidential Intellectual
Property
The Company believes that Mr. Hall’s actions are an attempt to
distract from the serious and ongoing arbitration against Mr. Hall
regarding his theft of Velodyne’s confidential, trade secret
information. Mr. Hall has never denied taking this confidential,
trade secret information, which he seems intent upon using to
further his personal business ventures to the detriment of Velodyne
and its stockholders.
Like any enterprise with a focus on innovative, breakthrough
technologies, Velodyne is committed to protecting its intellectual
property. The Company will take any and all actions to ensure Mr.
Hall complies with his legal obligations to refrain from any use or
disclosure of Velodyne’s property and to immediately return it to
Velodyne. The Company views Mr. Hall’s latest missive as an attempt
to divert attention from Velodyne’s upcoming proceeding against
him, where an initial procedural hearing is set for September 2,
2021.
David Hall Falsely Portrays the Trusted Long-standing
Relationship Between Velodyne Lidar and Nikon
The Company’s relationship with Nikon dates back to 2018, when
Mr. Hall served as Chief Executive Officer of Velodyne. As part of
its long-standing relationship with Velodyne, Nikon has also been a
strategic investor in the Company. Today, the Company continues to
have a strong partnership with Nikon as a trusted technology and
manufacturing partner for Velodyne’s industry-leading lidar
sensor.
Michael Dee and Hamid Zarringhalam are Aligned with Velodyne
Lidar Stockholders
Michael Dee and Hamid Zarringhalam are independent directors
focused on the long-term success of the Company, who have
exceptional track records of success as business leaders and have
served as outstanding stewards of Velodyne and its
stockholders.
Mr. Hall’s fabricated statements about Mr. Zarringhalam are
demonstrably false and libelous. Mr. Zarringhalam never made the
comments Mr. Hall claimed, and is in fact a stockholder of the
Company, having purchased stock using his own personal funds1. Mr.
Zarringhalam remains a stockholder today and his interests are
aligned with those of all stockholders.
Mr. Hall’s repeated and demonstrably false statements have shown
that he is willing to go to unacceptable lengths to advance his own
self-serving agenda. The Company’s Board and management team remain
steadfast in their commitment to driving enhanced value creation
and will continue to do what they believe is in the best interest
of the Company and ALL Velodyne Lidar stockholders.
About Velodyne Lidar
Velodyne Lidar (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of
autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view
lidar sensors. Velodyne, the global leader in lidar, is known for
its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies. Velodyne’s
revolutionary sensor and software solutions provide flexibility,
quality and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of
industries, including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver
assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV), smart cities and security. Through continuous innovation,
Velodyne strives to transform lives and communities by advancing
safer mobility for all. For more information, visit
www.velodynelidar.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward looking statements" within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without
limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include,
without limitation, statements regarding market growth, target
markets, new products and development efforts. When used in this
press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects,"
"anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes,"
"seeks," "may," "will," “can,” "should," "future," "propose" and
variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative
versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and
involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside
Velodyne's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual
results or outcomes include the uncertain impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on Velodyne's and its customers' businesses; Velodyne's
ability to manage growth; Velodyne's ability to execute its
business plan; uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne's
customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market
acceptance of these products; uncertainties regarding government
regulation and adoption of lidar; the rate and degree of market
acceptance of Velodyne's products; the success of other competing
lidar and sensor-related products and services that exist or may
become available; uncertainties related to Velodyne's current
litigation and potential litigation involving Velodyne or the
validity or enforceability of Velodyne's intellectual property; and
general economic and market conditions impacting demand for
Velodyne's products and services. For more information about risks
and uncertainties associated with Velodyne’s business, please refer
to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of
Velodyne’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual
report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All
forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
information available to Velodyne as of the date hereof, Velodyne
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as required by law.
1
https://ir.velodynelidar.com/static-files/1c3c58e4-191c-48b8-b4e4-b1419c4d903f
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210824005357/en/
Investor Relations InvestorRelations@velodyne.com
Media Jim Golden / Jack Kelleher Joele Frank, Wilkinson
Brimmer Katcher 212-355-4449
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