We must have balls of brass to play this game. It took balls of brass for traders to bet against the housing market before the crisis (I love the movie, "The Big Short") but now they are multi billionaires.
This CEO has his back against the wall. He will either come out fighting or he will lie down and fold. You're right, he could easily cut his losses and run, and start another business. However, I find it hard to bet against a high level CEO with strong connections in the business and investment communities. I don't think it would be too hard for him to find an investment entity that would love to break the short stranglehold and take this stock from .0003 to .04 like Richard Altomare did.