I didn't personally know him as he died long before my time and really don't know much about his works other than the things we use on a day to day basis.
I watched most of the episode on the car company Tesla. Some fine craftsmanship shown there. I watched the part about the RC boat. It was a big letdown when they ran the cable to it. The ground radar of the base of the tower was interesting to see the horizontal ground. I can just imagine him trying everything possible to get that system to work. I'm sure he believed it could be done on a large scale, but I don't share that vision.
Normally, when you scam, the idea is to set aside the cash for yourself to pay for your hookers, boats and drugs. Not spend it all on the project and then some.