Nikola founder Trevor Milton steps down as exec. chairman; NKLA shares plummet

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Two days after the GM deal,  Hindenburg Research released its damning report detailing its damning allegations against Milton and Nikola. NKLA shares plunged in the days following the short-seller’s allegations.

The stock was down almost 45% from its price of $50.05 per share on September 8 to $27.58 per share on Monday, September 21. From its trading price of $34.19 on September 18, NKLA plummeted 19.33%. 

It has been a wild ride for Nikola and the investigations are only a week old.

Chasing Tesla and hitting Hindenburg Research

Milton had an on-going war of words with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He views Nikola as the only company in a position to compete with Tesla. He has always maintained that Nikola developed a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell technology and it has a technology that will make hydrogen batteries affordable. 

The Hindenburg Research Report claimed that all Nikola has to offer is words. Perhaps the short-seller’s most serious charge is that in 2018, Milton and his team rolled the NikolaOne down a hill. Then using creative camera-work, they claimed that the “fully functional’ NikolaOne was ready to market.