NKLA weekly
Nikola Motors founder Trevor Milton was sentenced to four years in prison after his October 2022 conviction on securities fraud and wire fraud. Prosecutors had asked for 11 years.
The most-famous instance of fraud was a video showing a Nikola truck in motion that was later revealed to be rolling downhill.
He was accused of misleading investors by claiming Nikola had developed its own batteries and built a pickup “from the ground up,” despite knowing these statements were false. Additionally, Milton was charged with deceiving investors about the capabilities of the Nikola One semi-truck, which he claimed was fully functional even though it couldn’t be driven due to missing parts. Milton’s use of public channels like YouTube for these misrepresentations was a notable aspect of the case. Despite his defense team arguing that his actions were based on belief in his company rather than greed, the court found his intentions irrelevant to the harm caused to investors.
I would argue that his antics are standard operating procedure in silicon valley and many other parts of financial markets but his sin was ultimately entering into a $2 billion partnership with GM that he couldn’t deliver on.