That’s an impressive level of detail, faking a magazine ad.
Either way that’s an interesting effort.
Reminds me of kids trying to cheat a test by writing down all answers, only to not have to use that cheat sheet because they ended up accidentally studying for the test by making the sheet.
Given the styling and the obsession with appearances, I'd guess this character is a plain old narcissist. His only real skill is superficial charm. There's no real business ability there, or even much serious interest in running a real business.
But being seen to be a CEO and thought leader - that will appeal to him.
It's exactly the kind of love bombing -> charm -> attention seeking -> future faking -> increasingly outrageous lies -> reality of outright abuse sequence you'd expect.
My guess is he lacks any remorse, because he's likely incapable of it. And he'll be lining up some more victims in some other scheme.
A lot of this is unquestionably criminal and illegal, but it's hard to get the police interested in a case like this. And even if the victims group together and take him to small claims he'll find some way not to pay them.
Like if I were a couple of tech founders in YC I'd be trying to get this guy to be my CEO.
Sure, they were just days away from closing some big deals... in the same way a compulsive gambler is just one more hand or roll of the dice away from a big payout.
I think to some of us introverts it is easy to assume they are being “fake” or something like that.