Nikola admits founder Trevor Milton made ‘inaccurate’ claims

Nikola shares dropped more than 9 percent to $17.81 in early trading Friday following the revelation.

Some were basic claims about Nikola’s electric trucks, such as Milton’s December 2016 statement that the Nikola One semi was a “fully functioning vehicle,” according to the filing.

Milton made misleading claims as recently as July of last year, when he said that all of Nikola’s major components were “done in house” and that five trucks were “coming off the assembly line” in Germany, the probe found.

But the investigators also determined that some of Hindenburg’s allegations were inaccurate, Nikola said, pointing to findings that the company’s workforce is led by people with deep experience in the industry and that its contributions are consistent with other firms at similar stages.

“These findings are inconsistent with the main conclusion of the Hindenburg article that the company was an ‘intricate’ or ‘massive fraud,’” Nikola said.

Hindenburg’s report nevertheless sparked investigations into Nikola by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan US attorney’s office, both of which slapped the company with subpoenas in September.

A spokesperson for Milton declined to comment Friday.

Category: Technology

Source: New York Post