Trailer Trash Solar
A failed auto mechanic blew sunshine at Warren Buffett. Now even his lawyer is headed to prison.
This Week In Blunders – March 8-14
“For the good ‘ol American life. For the money, for the glory, and for the fun. Mostly for the money.” – Burt Reynolds in the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit.”
Jeff Carpoff, a down-and-out car mechanic in Martinez, Calif., had a genius idea: Bolt Chinese solar panels onto a trailer and call it a portable generator.
The next thing he knew, Warren Buffett and several other shrewd investors were throwing hundreds of millions at his startup, DC solar.
Inc. magazine called the company “a renewable energy powerhouse.” No more dirty diesel on jobs sites or disaster zones. Why didn’t somebody think of this sooner?
Never mind Carpoff’s personal bankruptcy, home foreclosure, failed auto shops, unemployment and lack of a college degree or any of the training that usually goes with spawning a green-energy revolution. The praise kept coming – especially after the Obama administration named DC Solar a partner in a national program to fight climate change.
No surprise Carpoff, 55, then made the classic startup mistake of thinking investors’ money was his money.
He bought tens of millions worth of automotive trophies, including a 1978 Firebird previously owned by “Smokey and the Bandit” star Burt Reynolds.
He sponsored a NASCAR team. He bought the Martinez Clippers, a minor-league pro baseball team. He snapped up luxury vacation homes and pursued every financial fantasy that a deadbeat car mechanic from a working-class refinery town could dream about.
