Nikola Corporation

"Nikola One" and "Nikola Two" redirect here. For other uses, see Nikola I and Nikola II.

Nikola Corporation
FormerlyNikola Motor Company (2014–2020; now name of a subsidiary of Nikola Corporation)
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: NKLA
ISINUS6541101050
IndustryAutomotive
Founded2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
FounderTrevor Milton
Headquarters
Phoenix, Arizona
,
U.S.
Key people
Steve Shindler, Chairman
Steve Girsky (disgraced CEO)
Products
  • Nikola Two
  • Nikola Tre
  • Nikola One
  • Nikola Badger
  • Nikola NZT
  • Nikola Reckless
  • Nikola WAV
RevenueIncrease US$50.8 million (2022)
Decrease −US$749 million (2022)
Decrease −US$784 million (2022)
Total assetsIncrease US$1.24 billion (2022)
Total equityDecrease US$526 million (2022)
OwnerTrevor Milton (20%)
Number of employees
970 (July, 2023)
Subsidiaries
  • Nikola Motor Company
  • Nikola Energy Company
Websitenikolamotor.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Nikola Corporation (formerly known as Nikola Motor Company) is an American manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles, and energy solutions.[2] It presented several concept vehicles from 2016 to 2020, the first of which was a natural gas fueled turbine-electric semi truck.[3] The company went public on June 4, 2020.[4] In February 2022, the company projected deliveries of between 300 and 500 of its first battery-electric semitrucks — known as the Nikola Tre — to customers.[5] The company delivered its first two battery-electric trucks in December 2021.[6] Like Tesla, Inc., the company is named in honor of Nikola Tesla, but these are not related to the inventor.[7] Nikola Corporation is based in Phoenix, Arizona.[8]

In September 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice launched investigations into securities fraud allegations.[9][10][11] In July 2021, a United States federal grand jury indicted Nikola founder and former CEO Trevor Milton, but did not indict the company. The indictment charged Milton with three counts of criminal fraud—for "lying about 'nearly all aspects of the business'"—and two counts of securities fraud. Publicly traded shares in Nikola dropped to around US$12[12] after falling from over $65 in mid-2020, when its market valuation had exceeded that of the Ford Motor Company.[13] In October 2022, Milton was found guilty in federal court of three of four counts of fraud against him, over statements he made while CEO of the company.[14]

  1. ^ "Nikola Corporation 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". SEC.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 23, 2023.
  2. ^ Ohnsman, Alan. "Nikola Shifting To Electric Semi Production, Building First Hydrogen Fuel Plant". Forbes. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Nikola Motor Company | Premium Electric Vehicles". nikolamotor.com. June 20, 2016. Archived from the original on June 20, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  4. ^ Pankratyeva, Alexandra (June 23, 2020). "12 billion Nikola IPO and the future of the 'Tesla of Trucking'". capital.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  5. ^ Wayland, Michael (February 24, 2022). "Shares of EV start-up Nikola surge on earnings beat, plans to generate revenue in 2022". CNBC.com. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  6. ^ Carpenter, Susan (December 18, 2021). "Nikola delivers first battery electric big rigs to Port of LA". Spectrum News. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Cao, Sissi (November 23, 2019). "Elon Musk Isn't the Only Electric Futurist Who Wants to Rectify Nikola Tesla's Legacy". Observer. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. ^ Ringle, Hayley (October 19, 2018). "Behind the deal: How Nikola Motor steered its trucking technology to Arizona". Phoenix Business Journal. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  9. ^ Baccardax, Martin (September 15, 2020). "Nikola Shares Slump Amid SEC Probe Into Short Seller Hindenburg Fraud Claims". TheStreet. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  10. ^ Robinson, Matt (September 14, 2020). "SEC Examining Nikola Over Short Seller's Fraud Allegations". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  11. ^ Bushey, Claire (September 15, 2020). "US justice department inquires into Nikola fraud claims". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  12. ^ Wayland, Michael (July 29, 2021). "Grand jury indicts Trevor Milton, founder of electric carmaker Nikola, on three counts of fraud". CNBC.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  13. ^ "Nikola Founder Is Charged With Fraud in Rebuke to Wall Street". The New York Times. July 29, 2021. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  14. ^ Rosevear, John (October 14, 2022). "Nikola founder Trevor Milton found guilty of fraud over statements he made while CEO of the EV company". CNBC.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022.