Mentor Capital, Inc. (OTC Markets: MNTR) reports it is starting 2012 with $9.7 Million in new cancer related acquisitions which were executed in the last 30 days of 2011. The year-end acquisitions fundamentally change the Mentor Capital balance sheet, according to Mentor CEO, Chester Billingsley. “Earlier, we found that the eleven already public cancer companies we invested into were reluctant to allow investment at favorable terms for amounts in excess of even $100,000. Just prior to the year-end acquisitions, the company held approximately $1.0 Million in financial and medical assets and had earned approximately $0.10 per share, subject to audit.” Mentor Capital has approximately 2.9 million basic shares outstanding and has traded in a quarterly range of $0.10 - $0.26/share.

The 2012 strategic shift to acquire 30% to 80% ownership in a number of private cancer companies is intended to allow Mentor Capital to more rapidly commit its $125 Million in authorized public market funding to the cancer fight. The average cancer acquisition is targeted at $5 to $20 million each. Mentor continues to have zero bank debt and funds its acquisitions by pledging the long-term proceeds of $125 Million in publicly held warrants to the private cancer companies. In this fashion, as up to $125 Million in cancer assets are acquired by Mentor, those portfolio cancer companies receive the benefit of public market financing while they themselves remain private as they develop.

About Mentor Capital: Founded in 1985 by the current CEO, the company now targets its socially responsible acquisitions and investments exclusively toward leading-edge cancer companies. Mr. Billingsley began his cancer involvement in graduate school at MIT where he studied difficult to treat cancers in conjunction with Mass General Hospital. He took Mentor Capital public in 1994, secured approval of the current $125 Million public funding structure and is the 2009 author of the Cancer Immunotherapy Index. Mentor works to find the best of non-profit cancer discoveries and finance their development toward a planned exit by sale to a large pharmaceutical company or by assisting the cancer fighting company to separately go public. Additional important information is presented at .

Forward Looking Statements, Safe Harbor and Risk Descriptions are Incorporated by Reference from the MNTR Company Web Site above.