Updated: I have it from a reliable source that this is not the case...that one percent is not owned by Tom Cruise. So it rests.
The original post: We broke the story in May that Helio had divested one percent stake to someone (wasn’t disclosed who), and that the voting interest of both joint venture partners Earthlink and SK Telecom remained. Also, it is known that Tom Cruise has been seen with a Helio phone, was at a launch party as well (and that Cruise and Helio CEO-founder Sky Dayton are friends).
Now, some rumors come that Cruise has invested some money in Helio...that is probably not true...but the reverse is a possibility if you want to put two and two together: that one percent stake was given to Tom Cruise, in return for him promoting and appearing in (apparently he’s shot at least one ad, according to a source I spoke to, though no confirmation on that) the ad(s). That might also explain why the voting interest of the partners remains intact.
The company told me they will not comment on speculation or rumor. Me says you do your own digging if you want to know who that one percent owner is…
Meanwhile, as we mentioned before, Helio has started their TV ads...one is running on Comedy Central. Others are running on Korean cable channels here, aimed at the Korean-American audience. All the five ads are on YouTube, here. The first three are Korean language ones, the last two in English. The second ad, the jogging one, was shot in my neighborhood, on and near the Promenade...cool.