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Henry Elkus
Alma mater	Yale University (Class of 2018, Dropped Out)
Occupation(s)	Co-founder and CEO of Helena, Former Director of Energy Vault Holdings Inc.
Known for	Co-founding Helena and Creating Anon at Yale
Notable work	“America in One Room”, "COVID-19 Response", and "Energy Vault"
Parent	William "Bill" Elkus
Relatives	Sophie Allegra Elkus (sister)

Henry Elkus is the CEO of Helena, an organization headquartered in Los Angeles operating projects "to identify solutions to global problems and implement them."

Early Life and Education

Elkus' father William "Bill" Elkus is the founder and managing partner of Clearstone a venture capital firm with $650 million invested. William Elkus was also a founding trustee of the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation and currently sits on the board of Helena. Henry's older sister, Sophie, is an LA-based influencer and content creator.

Career

Unlimited Ltd.

Elkus dropped out of school in eighth grade to run Unlimited Ltd., a hybrid organization that functioned as both a clothing company and a charity.

Anon

Four years after dropping out of high school, Elkus enrolled at Yale. During his freshman year, Elkus co-founded Anon, a website that facilitated the anonymous buying and selling of various academic resources, ranging from study guides to college acceptance essays and internship applications. This initiative drew criticism from Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway, who stated in a broadcasted email, “I can’t see how this plan is anything but a violation of undergraduate regulations,” and added, “The fact that the creators of the site are trafficking in anonymity is a clear signal that they are aware that what they propose to do runs afoul of these regulations” – Elkus maintained that he had consulted with attorneys and that Anon had not violated any laws..

Helena

Early Days

In 2015, Elkus co-founded Helena with Zachary Bohn out of their Yale dorm room. He dropped out shortly after to pursue the project full time.

Lawsuits and Controversies

Fraud Lawsuit

Henry J. Elkus is a defendant in a fraud case brought to court by 1791 Management citing a breach of fiduciary duty by Energy Vault a corporation for which he was a director. The plaintiff stated in the case that Elkus and others involved in the corporation:

"pursued or joined in the pursuit of a common course of conduct and acted in concert with one another in furtherance of a common plan, design, or conspiracy. In addition to the wrongful conduct complained of herein giving rise to primary liability, Defendants further aided and abetted and/or assisted each other in breach of their fiduciary duties."

Following the initial lawsuit, the plaintiff submitted a second amended complaint, outlining additional charges against Elkus along with others alleged to be co-conspirators:

1. Breach of fiduciary duty
2. Common law fraud
3. Negligent misrepresentation
4. Negligence
5. Constructive fraud
6. Violation of corporations code
7. Violation of corporations code

1791 also openly published a presentation outlining their investigation into what they refer to as "a purported business" devising "artificial devices to disguise the lack of economic substance." Throughout the deck the term "Ponzi" is mentioned 45 times and the operation is described as a "Peter-to-Paul scheme (from the phrase 'robbing Peter to pay Paul')". 1791 also remarks that the special purpose vehicle led by Elkus' firm asserted being "over-subscribed... (i.e., full)" while simultaneously making room "Messrs. Laikin, Paulson and Foster."

Controversy Regarding Dual Non-Profit and For-Profit Status

One rather unique attribute of Helena is that it simultaneously operates as both a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and a for-profit company (via multiple separate entities).

This unconventional structure was put under scrutiny in a popular Effective Altruism Forum with community members raising concerns regarding:

1. Conflicting Officer Interests

"As an aside, it is a peculiar quirk that the 990 formshttps://www.causeiq.com/organizations/helena-group-foundation,815455559/ list the two officers of Helena as working 60 hours a week on the 501(c)3 side of things when they are also engaged in the work of the for-profit Helena Special Investments. It seems like a pointless and obvious misrepresentation"

2. Excessive Staff Overhead and Limited Programming

"The 990 forms across the years do not show much relevant programmatic work for the org. It is just lots of money in, some small grants out (not including expenses from funding the America in One Room event), and a lot of internal staff overhead (none of which is broken out in the highly paid staff section beyond the two officers). Internal expenses for staff pretty much take up whatever Helena 501(c)3 brings in"

3. Unreconciled Financials and Opaque Reporting

"The COVID PPE procurement activities also do not appear to reconcile in the financials section of the Helena Group Foundation's 2020 990 form. The accomplishments line item 'COVID RESPONSE' describes three separate activities, one of which is $20m being 'deployed' for PPE procurement. Total accruals across the three activities for that line item are expenses of $925,044 against $50,000 in grants received by Helena and revenue of $0. Is this due to a reporting quirk of the 990 forms? could those activities have been 'deployed' external to Helena 501(c)3 and/or out of the VC for-profit side of things, with the 501(c)3 providing coordination and advice? or maybe the reconciliation will make sense once the 2021 990 forms are filed with IRS?"

Alleged Unauthorized Claim of Affiliation to Celebrities

In an investigative journalism piece for Gawker, technology reporter Sam Biddle explored the connections between Elkus' company, Helena, and several high-profile celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Chloë Grace Moretz, Casey Neistat, and Jennifer McCrea.

Selena Gomez

When Biddle contacted Selena Gomez’s publicist to clarify her client’s role with Helena, the publicist responded with a series of questions:

"I’ve never heard of this. What exactly is it?" - Selena Gomez Publicist

and

"Do you have a link for the site?" - Selena Gomez Publicist

Despite her efforts, she was unable to confirm any connection between Selena Gomez and Helena, stating,

"I am trying to look into this and not having much luck as no one seems to be aware of it." - Selena Gomez Publicist

Another journalist Oliver Coleman reached out to Selena Gomez' publicist and received a curt response regarding her lack of involvement:

“She’s not involved.” - Selena Gomez Publicist

Jennifer McCrea

When Biddle reached out to Jennifer McCrea a prominent Harvard Scholar about her involvement with Elkus' company Biddle was met with confusion

“This is Ariel, one of Jennifer’s business partners. I just checked with her and there is no connection. It must be a different Jennifer McCrea.” - Jennifer McCrea Business Partner

Alleged Unauthorized Claim of Affiliation to Notable Brands

Many notable institutions are listed on Helena's promotional materials and Elkus has claimed that his group has:

"...established relationships with individuals at the White House, United Nations, Google and the Huffington Post" - Henry Elkus

Following further diligence journalist Oliver Coleman the Huffington Post denied the existence of a partnership with Helena.

Furthermore while the United Nations could not affirmatively confirm the lack of a relationship they stated:

"no one has heard of it" - United Nations

Google also shared a similar sentiment to that of the United Nations.