Note 1 - Nature of operations

Corporate Structure Overview

Mentor Capital, Inc. (“Mentor” or “the Company”) was reincorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in September 2015.

The entity was originally founded as an investment partnership in Silicon Valley, California, by the current CEO in 1985 and subsequently incorporated under the laws of the State of California on July 29, 1994. On September 12, 1996, the Company’s offering statement was qualified pursuant to Regulation A of the Securities Act, and the Company began to trade its shares publicly. On August 21, 1998, the Company filed for voluntary reorganization, and on January 11, 2000, the Company emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization. The Company relocated to San Diego, California, and contracted to provide financial assistance and investment into small businesses. On May 22, 2015, a corporation named Mentor Capital, Inc. (“Mentor Delaware”) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. A shareholder-approved merger between Mentor and Mentor Delaware was approved by the California and Delaware Secretaries of State and became effective September 24, 2015, thereby establishing Mentor as a Delaware corporation. In September 2020, Mentor relocated its corporate office from San Diego, California, to Plano, Texas.

The Company’s common stock trades publicly under the trading symbol OTCQB: MNTR.

The Company’s current target industry focus includes the classic energy sectors of oil, gas, coal, uranium, and related ventures. Additionally, the Company has residual investments in legal dispute resolution services, collecting on an annuity-like financing, and the collection of a judgment that it intends to continue to pursue.

The following is a list of subsidiaries of Mentor Capital, Inc. as of December 31, 2023:

Schedule of List of Subsidiaries 

Mentor’s 100% owned subsidiaries, Mentor IP, LLC (“MCIP”), Mentor Partner I, LLC (“Partner I”), Mentor Partner II, LLC (“Partner II”), and TWG, LLC (“TWG”), are headquartered in Plano, Texas.

MCIP held intellectual property and licensing rights related to one United States and coincident Canadian patent associated with vape pens. On October 24, 2023, the Company divested MCIP’s intellectual property and licensing rights related to the United States and the Canadian patent associated with vape pens. The Company received no payment for its divestment. Patent application national phase maintenance fees were expensed when paid, and there were no assets related to MCIP patents represented on the consolidated financial statements on December 31, 2023 and 2022. Activity had been limited to payment of patent application maintenance fees in Canada.

On August 27, 2021, the Company and Mentor Partner I entered into a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release with G FarmaLabs Limited, its affiliated entities, and guarantors (“G Farma Settlors”) to resolve and settle all outstanding claims on an unpaid finance lease receivable and notes receivable of balances of $803,399 and $1,045,051, respectively, plus accrued interest (“Settlement Agreement”). On October 12, 2021, the parties filed a Stipulation for Dismissal and Continued Jurisdiction with the Superior Court of California in the County of Marin. The Court ordered that it retain jurisdiction over the parties under Section 664.6 of the California Code of Civil Procedure to enforce the Settlement Agreement until the performance in full of its terms is met.

Mentor Capital, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

December 31, 2023 and 2022

In August 2022, September 2022, and October 2022, the G Farma Settlors failed to make monthly payments, and failed to cure each default within 10 days’ notice from Company pursuant to the Settlement Agreement. On July 11, 2023, the Court entered judgment against the G Farma Settlors and in favor of Mentor and Partner I in the amount of $2,539,597. The judgment also accrues post-judgment interest at the rate of 10% from July 11, 2023 until such time as the judgment is paid in full.

The Company has retained the reserve on collections of the unpaid lease receivable balance due to the long history of uncertain payments from G Farma. Payments from G Farma will be recognized in Other Income as they are received. We will continue to pursue collection from the G Farma Settlors over time. No recovery payments have been received since October 11, 2022. The $2,539,597 judgment and interest receivable of $120,370 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 is fully reserved pending the outcome of the Company’s collection process. See Notes 8, 9, and 18.

On September 27, 2022, Pueblo West Organics, LLC, a Colorado limited liability company (“Pueblo West”) exercised a lease prepayment option and purchased manufacturing equipment from Partner II for $245,369. On September 28, 2022 Partner II transferred full title to the equipment to Pueblo West. See Note 9.

On November 18, 2022, following the filing of a declaratory relief action, Mentor received $459,990 from Electrum Partners, LLC (“Electrum”) pursuant to a certain November 14, 2022 Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release, following the Company’s October 21, 2022 lawsuit against Electrum and the escrow agent in California Superior Court for the County of San Mateo. The Company applied $196,666 to a certain October 30, 2018, Recovery Purchase Agreement and $200,000 to October 31, 2018 and January 28, 2019 Capital Agreements. The Company applied the remaining $63,324 to its $194,028 equity interest in Electrum; this resulted in a $130,704 loss on the Company’s investment in Electrum. See Note 10.

On December 21, 2018, Mentor paid $10,000 to purchase 500,000 shares of NeuCourt, Inc. (“NeuCourt”) common stock, representing approximately 6.13% of NeuCourt’s issued and outstanding common stock at December 31, 2023.

Since 2003, the Company has held an interest in a facilities operations company, Waste Consolidators Inc. (“WCI”). The Company purchased a 50% interest in WCI in 2003 and increased its ownership stake by 1% in 2014. On October 4, 2023, the Company sold the entirety of its ownership interest in WCI for $6,000,000. Following the sale, the Company received no new income from WCI and had no further involvement or continuing influence over its operations. As a result of this sale, our facilities operations segment was eliminated, and its results of operations, assets, and liabilities were excluded from our continuing operations. Therefore, WCI is presented as a discontinued operation in our consolidated financial statements. See Note 3.