Mentor Capital Cash Exceeds Share Price and a Second Stock Buyback is Authorized

Mentor Capital, Inc. (OTCQB: MNTR), a classic energy company, in its 2023 10-K, reported cash of $0.10 per share with no net debt versus today’s share price of $0.04 per share. During 2023, the Company announced that the theoretical cash breakup value of the business may exceed the price of the stock. In support and response, three directors, including the CEO, purchased a total of 2,128,117 Mentor common shares. Commencing in June 2023, the Company initiated and soon thereafter completed the stock repurchase of the final 255,252 of a 300,000 share repurchase plan. During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a second stock repurchase plan authorizing the Company to repurchase up to 3,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The second stock repurchase is anticipated to start during the spring of 2024.

On October 4, 2023, Mentor sold its interest in a subsidiary unit in a $6,000,000 transaction comprised of $5,000,000 in cash and a $1,000,000 one-year note. The cash proceeds of the sale were used to increase Mentor Capital’s energy investments in Exxon Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Chevron Corp., Cameco Corp., a uranium investment, and Arch Resources, Inc., a coal investment, which together now total the majority of the Company’s non-cash assets.

At year-end, substantially all debts and liabilities of the Company were retired including significant accumulated benefits owed to the CEO from over a large number of years. The meeting fees to directors were increased to $2,500, and the CEO’s annual salary was increased to $208,000 per year to adjust for inflation. Finally, the assignable Series D warrants were reset to 2 cents per share for original owners and for assignees after a 10 cent redemption fee is paid. There are currently 4,250,000 Series D warrants outstanding.

The Company reports that for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, Mentor had net income of $3,157,658 with a resulting basic gain of 13.7 cents per share, or 12.2 cents on a diluted basis. On December 31, 2023 and currently, the Company has 24,686,105 common shares and 11 Series Q convertible preferred shares outstanding. No equity was granted to directors, insiders, consultants, or investor relations firms during the year ending December 31, 2023.

The Company's shares finished the year at a closing price of $0.062 per share, representing a market capitalization of $1,540,413 compared to a 2022 year-end closing price of $0.050 per share and a corresponding market capitalization of $1,147,068. The Company finished the year with a book value of $4,393,717 or $0.178 per share, compared to a book value of $1,726,099 or $0.075 per share at 2022 year-end.

The Series Q Convertible Preferred Stock, for accredited investors, first valued at $10,000 per share on May 30, 2018, was valued at $20,843 per share on December 31, 2023, which is an approximate 13.4% average compound annual rate of return over each of the last six years.

The Form 10-K may be referenced through the SEC's EDGAR system at: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html or at the Company's website: www.MentorCapital.com, where additional important information for investors can be found.

About Mentor Capital: As an operating company, Mentor seeks to acquire already cash flowing oil & gas, uranium, and coal businesses, assets and royalties by applying the residual $3,000,000 in current and upcoming cash, plus Mentor public stock, coupled with future incoming equity and debt, if any. Mentor looks to support operators, owners and investors who, in addition to cash, wish to have the option to be able to continue to operate and, in this way, capitalize on the best choice of continuing to harvest production or to participate in public stock when that is more lucrative.

The Company is managed by Chairman and CEO Chet Billingsley (71), who founded Mentor Capital first as an acquisition partnership in 1985. Mr. Billingsley's interest is reported at 7.51% on a fully diluted basis as of December 31, 2023, with other directors and officers holding an additional 6.72% on a fully diluted basis.

This press release is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to purchase securities.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements concerning financial projections, financing activities, corporate combinations, product development activities, and sales and licensing activities. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and are sometimes identified by words of condition such as "should," "could," "expects," "may," "intends," "seeks," "looks," "moves," or "plans" and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, that could cause actual results or direction to differ materially from those intended or anticipated. Such risks include, without limitation: nonperformance of investments, partner and portfolio difficulties, potential delays in marketing and sales, problems securing financing, the potential of competitive products, services, and technologies, difficulties experienced in product development, in recruiting and retaining key and knowledgeable personnel, in protecting intellectual property, and the effects of adverse worldwide economic events, such as the coronavirus recovery, government regulations, ESG challenges, energy regulations, and inflation. Further information concerning these, and other risks is included in the Company's Form 10-K filing, which, along with additional very important details on the Company, can be found here: https://ir.mentorcapital.com/all-sec-filings

The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

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