{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b99-b032f87a30cd", "docSlug": "d09125f46e4d", "documentTitle": "Clear Secure, Inc. (YOU)", "authorId": "54_Spruce_Point_Capital", "authorName": "Spruce Point Capital Management", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2025-04-30 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.3333334, "pageNumber": 50, "pageCount": 85, "prevPage": 49, "nextPage": 51, "slideType": "preempt_rebuttal", "function": "preempt_rebuttal", "density": "dense", "nDataPoints": 2, "notes": "Includes a direct quote from a former employee highlighting infrastructure and throughput limitations.", "elementsJson": [ "headline_text", "paragraph", "quote_block", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b99-b032f87a30cd/50", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b99-b032f87a30cd", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b99-b032f87a30cd.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b99-b032f87a30cd#slide-50", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "It's a very slow throughput infrastructure and a very heavy infrastructure to deploy in a checkpoint in an airport.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-3f3f-7598-93f3-c21c31d255a7", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.25, "w": 0.96, "x": 0.02, "y": 0.17 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "Spruce Point believes CLEAR's ultimate goal is to get the TSA to eliminate the TSA directive which mandates a CLEAR brand ambassador escort the CLEAR member to a TSA officer for a final security check. We believe CLEAR would like to work with the TSA on an installed eGate and has spoken enthusiastically about the technology on its year end conference call. CLEAR members can then self-screen through the eGates and go directly to the carry-on baggage scanner. Spruce Point has not seen CLEAR's eGates. We believe it will take years for the TSA to approve an eGate and ultimately it might not be anywhere close to CLEAR's existing eGate design or configuration. It also appears the carry-on baggage screener is the major bottleneck for the TSA and CLEAR. The TSA's initial award for CT scanners for carry-on baggage occurred in 2019. As of April 2023, 634 CT units have been installed and another 1,200 are expected to be installed over the coming years if funding is available.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "2100c6e0-fd01-487f-b247-43a47e9004f1", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.45, "w": 0.96, "x": 0.02, "y": 0.47 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "However, eGates, we think of eGates as the turns a mixture between the boarding gate reader to board the airplane and something along the turnstile of the metro, the subway, if Congress mandated to TSA to put eGates, I don't know that that's what they would come up with. I think what they would come up with is the eGates that the European immigration lines use, which are complete. I don't know if you've seen them. Oh there's like the gate, but then there's this door and its window, it's a door with glass that once I verify it opens and allows me to go through in a very narrow pathway and then it shuts down and until it shuts down, I cannot enter to be the next person can enter. It's a very slow throughput infrastructure and a very heavy infrastructure to deploy in a checkpoint in an airport. You got to drill a ton, you got to put a ton of electric wiring and you also are going to sacrifice a lot of real estate for people to stand on. So I don't see how this becomes a mass checkpoint solution. It could be a CLEAR solution, but I don't see how you can achieve a real estate improvement. You can achieve an improvement with eGates given the real estate challenge you have and you're not actually changing the throughput, you're removing the labor cost, which is not small, but you're not improving the throughput because the throughput for the TSA checkpoint is actually the x-ray machine. That's really what's making the line congested. The amount of x-ray machines you have and how long they take everything else is additional touch points. So yes, you could save manpower, but at the end of the day, I don't know that the airports would be supportive in investing all that real estate to put all these machines unless TSA views a different machine in its brain.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "testimonial", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "4ce6a6c3-cf46-45d9-96b5-9c3c64c735ac", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "However, eGates, we think of eGates as the turns a mixture between the boarding gate reader to board the airplane and something along the turnstile of the metro, the subway, I don't know if you told TSA, if Congress mandated to TSA to put eGates, I don't know that that's what they would come up with. I think what they would come up with is the eGates that the European immigration lines use, which are complete. I don't know if you've seen them. — Former CLEAR Employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd953-3f3f-7598-93f3-c46a9a4df64e", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.03, "w": 0.58, "x": 0.02, "y": 0.96 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: Spruce Point research interview, Q4 2024 conference call and TSA procurement announcement.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "d4a51ed5-38b6-4085-8213-ec01ffde2c90", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.65, "x": 0.33, "y": 0.03 }, "kind": "title", "text": "eGates Seem To Be A Viable Solution, But What Is The End Design And When?", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "ef61c48e-07ff-430d-87da-422cf5059e0d", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.04, "w": 0.96, "x": 0.02, "y": 0.42 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Spruce Point Interview With A Former CLEAR Employee", "attrs": null, "subkind": "subtitle", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "54ebb77d-3930-4f62-b46e-21466a9510f4", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [], "arcBeats": [ { "to": 50, "from": 21, "beatId": "94649fab-d8a2-4e54-9ab1-325a074f74f9", "arcName": "Overcoming the Monster", "arcSlug": "overcoming-monster", "beatName": "Spruce Point presents its thesis and evidence", "beatSlug": "overcoming-monster-the-struggle", "evidence": "The document presents Spruce Point's thesis and evidence supporting its short position.", "position": 2, "confidence": 0.8, "parentBeatName": "Development", "parentBeatSlug": "development" } ], "loops": [ { "to": 50, "from": 40, "name": "Cost Of Inaction", "slug": "27-cost-of-inaction", "bestFor": "Urgent budget requests, compliance, risk mitigation", "matchId": "1d1cc5a9-6cd7-496f-807c-c1fec88c64e3", "evidence": "The document highlights the potential risks and consequences of not addressing CLEAR's challenges.", "position": 1, "objective": "Emphasizing the risks of not addressing CLEAR's challenges", "structure": "The Status Quo -> The Hidden Costs Accumulating -> The Future State of Inaction -> The Tipping Point", "confidence": 0.6, "description": "Quantify what happens if the audience does nothing" } ], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }