This whole things sounds like a young, interesting, smart, and PR-hyped CEO, chosen by a group of activist investors and run by an activist board. This one is j

This whole things sounds like a young, interesting, smart, and PR-hyped CEO, chosen by a group of activist investors and run by an activist board. This one is just a big one. There are tons of little ones, with talented but naive young people ostensibly leading them, but actually beholden to the board even for mundane facets of operating the business. There's immense pressure to show progress, and sometimes the implication is do or die. Not surprised at all that a research-based project doesn't progress as quickly as the investors want, so the "management" fudges things.