When multimillion-dollar businesses file for bankruptcy, the small-time investors don't usually get a say.
But that didn't stop Chad Cooper, who claims to be a shareholder in GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT), from sharing his emotional story with a bankruptcy court in New Hampshire, where GTAT's Chapter 11 filing is under way.
GTAT makes sapphire screen covers for the Apple Watch. Sapphire was long-rumored to be replacing Corning's Gorilla Glass on the iPhone 6, but that never happened.
When GTAT announced its decision to file Chapter 11, its stock lost nearly 93% of its value in just three days.
Cooper unflinchingly accounted his investment in GTAT in a letter to Judge Henry Boroff.
"I took a huge stake in GT Advanced Technologies," he wrote. "I stand to lose most of my retirement account. I believed in the company and I believed in its product."
He said hearing news of GTAT's Chapter 11 filing felt "like a punch in the gut."
"I cried for 24 hours knowing I ruined the future for my family," wrote Cooper.
The point of Cooper's letter seems to be drawing attention to the individual investors who get wiped out when companies like Apple switch suppliers or, in this case, effectively force a company into bankruptcy.
"Please listen to the shareholders who have been blindsided by this action," he wrote. "I hope somebody will listen."
Here's the entirety of Cooper's letter:
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