Media entrepreneur Steven Brill has been failing pretty much constantly for the past 11 years, and repeatedly broken his word in the process. But he's turned the corner with his new startup, he swears! Just don't ask for specifics!

Airport-security gimmick Clear is just the latest example of Steven Brill failing investors (see also: Brill's Content, Inside.com, etc. etc.). But this time the mogul is just stone-cold ripping off customers, too, pocketing their half-used $200 membership fees.

Steven Brill has a reputation for being a media wise man—a deep-thinking mogul who's always spotting the opportunities of The Future. Which is kind of strange, since the majority of his projects have been ostentatious failures.

Airport snobs have been dealt a heavy blow today. Clear, the Steve Brill-founded company that charged travelers up to $199 a year to zip past long security lines, ceased operations last night. Per the notice posted to the company website: "Clear's parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations." [Wired]

Verified Identity Pass, the company behind the Clear fast-pass program for security check lines at airports, has raised a $44.4 million round of investment lead by Spark Capital. More good news for founder Stephen Brill? VIP has been allowed to resume signing up new customers by the Transportation Security Administration after briefly losing a laptop with substantial amounts customer information. (Photo by AP/Richard Drew)

A laptop with personal information including drivers license and passport numbers of up to 33,000 customers in the Clear airport security-pass program was discovered missing from a locked room at San Francisco International Airport. It has since mysteriously been returned, and there's no word of any security breach as of yet. Still, the laptop's data was apparently unencrypted, though Steven Brill, CEO of Verified Identity Pass, the company which runs the Clear program, said the personal information was behind "two levels of password protection."

Oh no! A laptop belonging to an employee of Clear—that would be Steve Brill's VIP airport security company—went missing at San Francisco International and now the names, addresses, and drivers license numbers of as many as 33,000 Clear customers could be compromised! The TSA has suspended the company from enrolling any new passengers until the situation is resolved, but we eagerly await in-depth coverage from Brill's news-breaking daughter at EssentiallyEmily! [AP]