Joost de Vries out as CEO of San Antonio startup DeLorean

Joost de Vries, the CEO of a San Antonio-based startup vying to resurrect the iconic DeLorean sports car as an electric vehicle, appears to have quietly resigned in October, according to LinkedIn.

De Vries’ departure is just the latest twist for DeLorean Motors Reimagined. Since making national headlines in early 2022 by announcing its plans for the car during Super Bowl LVI, the company has faced a high-profile lawsuit and delayed the launch of its first model, the Alpha 5.

What’s more, De Vries’ resignation means that only one of the DeLorean executives named as a defendant the suit is still working there. That person is Alan Yuan, who’s now interim CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile.

DeLorean Motors ReImagined didn’t respond to the Current’s phone calls and emails seeking comment on De Vries’ resignation.

California-based electric Karma filed a lawsuit in August 2022 against De Vries and three other DeLorean Motors Reimagined execs — all of whom former Karma employees. The suit accused the quartet of intellectual property theft, and was settled out of court in September. DeLorean Motors Reimagined’s former Chief Marketing Officer Troy Beetz and Vice President Brand and Creative Neilo Harris — the other two defendants named in the legal action — also appear to have left the company. Beetz has deleted any mention of DeLorean Motors Reimagined from his LinkedIn page, while Harris has deleted his time at the venture from his online resume and portfolio.

However, the lawsuit isn’t the only hiccup for DeLorean Motors Reimagined as it’s tried to launch its electric sports car. 

This fall, shortly before De Vries’ departure, customers who paid deposits for the Alpha 5 cars raised alarm bells, saying employees hadn’t answered answering phone or email inquiries about when they expected to deliver the vehicles.

Shortly after DeLorean Motors Reimagined and Karma reached their settlement, De Vries told the Express-News his company had “successfully closed a round of financing” and was gearing up for another round of fundraising. He also said executives were looking to take the company public.

The company hasn’t filed with federal regulators to make a public offering, and it’s unclear how much other financing it’s secured. However, it does appear the company has raised some $3 million by selling deposits for the Alpha 5,  , according to publicly available transaction data.

Keeping in line with its futuristic theming, DeLorean Motors Reimagined opted to sell deposits for the vehicle in the form of non-fungible token, or NFTs — unique digital assets that exist on a blockchain that cannot be reproduced or edited.

DeLorean sold 1,235 of those NFTs at $2,500 each, transaction data shows.

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This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 12, 2023.