If the CEO promised something he couldn't deliver- That's absolutely his fault.
Being "under the impression" that something will happen is not management. Everyone past the age of 15 knows you SIGN WRITTEN CONTRACTS for significant deals.
Even better, the CEO should not have accepted terms he didn't want to be held to in the first place.
Even better, the CEO should be borrowing money from banks instead of scammy dilutive vultures.
Even better, the CEO should simply be running a profitable company instead of losing money endlessly.
If investors are not willing to blame the CEO for his bungling mistakes, then they need to blame themselves for keeping such an inept manager in a position to do such great harm to their investment.