Trevor Milton

Trevor Milton is an American billionaire and the founder and former executive chairman of Nikola Corporation. In September 2020, Milton resigned from his position as chairman after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice began investigating claims that Milton and Nikola committed securities fraud.[2][3]

Trevor Milton
Trevor Milton in 2017
Born (1982-04-06) April 6, 1982
Utah, U.S.
Alma materUtah Valley State College (dropped out)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of Nikola Corporation
Net worthUS$1.8 billion (November 2020)[1]
TitleFormer chairman, Nikola Corporation
TermJune–August 2020
Spouse(s)
Chelsey Bergmann
​
(m. 2018)​

Early life and education

Milton was born in Utah to Bill Milton, a Union Pacific Railroad manager, and Sally Milton, a realtor. He has a brother and three sisters. The family moved to Las Vegas when Milton was a toddler, but returned to Utah when he was eight. When he was 15 years old, his mother passed away from cancer.[4]

Milton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, after high school, went on an 18-month church mission to Brazil, where he became fluent in Portuguese.[4] He dropped out of college after one semester at Utah Valley State College to pursue a career in sales and marketing.[4]

Career

Milton started an alarm sales company immediately after quitting college called St. George Security and Alarm and eventually exited the business for a stated $300,000, though his former business partner claims he was led to believe the exit payment was "much smaller."[5] Milton then launched an online classified ads website selling used cars, which eventually failed.

Afterwards, Milton founded an alternative energy vehicle company called dHybrid. Inc which retrofitted commercial trucks with engines that could run on natural gas instead of diesel. After entering into a deal with an investor for a large stake in dHybrid, it was later discovered that the investor was appropriating dHybrid Inc.’s intellectual property. As a result, dHybrid Inc. sued that investor and closed the company.[6] Milton then started dHybrid Systems, which was similar to the previous company except with a greater focus on building natural gas and hydrogen storage systems.[6] dHybrid was purchased by Worthington Industries in 2014.[7] In 2015, Milton founded Nikola Motor Company along with his brother, Travis, as the director of operations.[6]

In 2015, Milton founded Nikola Motor Company with an initial investment of $2 million from Worthington.[8]

Fraud allegations

Hindenburg Research Report

In September 2020, two days after Nikola established ties with General Motors, short seller Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Milton of making false statements over the course of many years and characterizing Nikola Motor Company as "an intricate fraud."[5] Nikola's stock fell by eight percent that day and fell an additional 15 percent the following day, after Milton failed to deliver his rebuttal as he previously promised on Twitter.[9][10][11] Further verification by Bloomberg and the Financial Times confirmed some of the details presented in the report.[12][13] As of September 2020, Nikola Motor Company is being sued by at least one law firm representing shareholders for possible fraud.[14]

Federal investigations

On September 14, 2020, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal all reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice had started an investigation related to potential securities fraud committed by Milton and his company.[15][16][17][18]

Resignation from Nikola Corporation

On September 20, 2020, Milton resigned from his position as Executive Chairman of Nikola Corporation, just weeks after tweeting that "cowards run, leaders stay and fight".[2][19][20][21] As part of his exit package, Milton remained an unpaid consultant to Nikola until December 2020. He cannot comment about Nikola on social media, online blogs, or any other internet platforms without permission from the company. Milton retained 91.6 million shares of Nikola that were worth roughly $3.1 billion in late September 2020.[22]

Following the Hindenberg Research Report, sexual assault allegations, and stepping down from his position with Nikola, on September 22, 2020, a rumor appeared from a satire account on Twitter claiming Milton was arrested by the DOJ and FBI at Sky Harbor Airport, in Phoenix, Arizona. The tweet was picked up by Techcrunch and major other outlets; hours later, it was revealed as a hoax, and Techcrunch publicly apologized. Following the public attention, Milton deactivated his Twitter and Instagram accounts.[23][24]

Sexual misconduct allegations

In September 2020, Aubrey Ferrin Smith, Milton's cousin, accused him of sexually assaulting her at their grandfather’s funeral in 1999, when she was 15 and he was 18.[25] The Wall Street Journal later confirmed several details of the accusation, including that Smith was, indeed, Milton's cousin and that Smith had told family members about the incident months after it had occurred. Family members also told the Wall Street Journal that religious authorities were notified, but no charges were filed.[26][27][28][29] CNBC later confirmed that Smith had filed a formal complaint with the local police in Holladay, Utah where the alleged assault took place. A Sgt. with the Unified Police Department confirmed that the complaint had been filled. CNBC additionally confirmed that in 2017 when the #MeToo movement was taking place, Ferrin Smith published an account of the assault on Facebook without identifying Milton by name.[30]

On September 28, 2020, CNBC reported that a second anonymous woman had come forward claiming that she had been assaulted by Milton. The alleged incident is said to have occurred in 2004 when the alleged victim was 15 and Milton was 22. The alleged assault which constitutes rape and forced sexual assault under Utah law is being investigated by the local police. Milton reportedly bragged to his friend that he had "took her virginity in the theater room." and reportedly said "I like young girls and I like virgins because they are naive."[31][30]

Milton denies the accusations saying through a spokesperson “Mr. Milton strongly denies these false allegations. At no point in his life has Mr. Milton ever engaged in any inappropriate physical contact with anyone."[32]

Personal life

Milton lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, Chelsey Bergmann, who he married in 2018.[33][1] In November 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Milton had bought a 2,000-acre Utah ranch with a 16,800 square foot riverside mansion for $32.5 million.[34] The purchase set a new record for the price paid for a home in the state.[35]

In September 2020, Forbes assessed Milton's net worth to be at least $3.1 billion, as he owned about 25% of the company, which was valued at about $12.4 billion.[36]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Trevor Milton". Forbes. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. "Nikola founder Trevor Milton to voluntarily step down as executive chairman; stock plunges". CNBC. September 21, 2020.
  3. Boudette, Neal E.; Ewing, Jack (2020-09-21). "Head of Nikola, a G.M. Electric Truck Partner, Quits Amid Fraud Claims". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  4. O'Dell, John (8 May 2019). "Rough Childhood Helped Shape Nikola's Trevor Milton". Trucks.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  5. "Nikola: How to Parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America". Hindenburg Research. 2020-09-10. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  6. "Nikola Motor Founder Lost Everything Twice, Then Started Company Now Worth Billions". Forbes. 2020-05-18.
  7. "'Trillion-Dollar Company'? Q&A with Nikola Motor Founder Trevor Milton". Trucks.com. 2019-02-18. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  8. "Early Nikola Investor Worthington Posts Gain on Share Sale". Bloomberg. 2020-09-23.
  9. "Nikola shares fall after short seller claims business is an 'intricate fraud'". amp.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-11.
  10. Linnane, Ciara. "UPDATE: Short seller Hindenburg alleges that electric truck maker Nikola is an 'intricate fraud' in new report". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  11. "Short-seller accuses GM-backed Nikola Motors of being 'intricate fraud' | Fox Business". www.foxbusiness.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  12. "Nikola's History of Discrepancies Has Been in Plain Sight". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  13. "Nikola shares fall after short seller claims business is an 'intricate fraud'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2020-09-13. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  14. "INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Nikola Corporation and Encourages Investors with Losses of $100,000 to Contact the Firm". www.businesswire.com. 2020-09-10. Archived from the original on 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  15. Foldy, Ben (2020-09-15). "Justice Department Probes Electric-Truck Startup Nikola Over Claims It Misled Investors". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  16. Business, Charles Riley and Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN. "Nikola founder Trevor Milton steps down as chairman in battle with short seller". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  17. Bushey, Claire (Sep 15, 2020). "US justice department inquires into Nikola fraud claims". Financial Times. Peter Campbell, Kadhim Shubber. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020.
  18. Wayland, Michael (2020-09-15). "Electric truck maker Nikola's shares fall as SEC, DOJ reportedly examine short seller's fraud claims". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  19. "Nikola Board of Directors Announces Leadership Transition". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  20. Ohnsman, Alan. "Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Resigns After Short-Seller's Fraud Accusations". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  21. Boudette, Neal E.; Ewing, Jack (2020-09-21). "Head of Nikola, a G.M. Electric Truck Partner, Quits Amid Fraud Claims". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  22. Kopecki, Dawn; Wayland, Michael. "Nikola founder Trevor Milton forfeits $166 million in stock he would have lost anyway and gets to keep $3.1 billion under separation deal". CNBC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  23. "Nikola's chairman steps down, stock crashes following allegations of fraud". September 21, 2020. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  24. "Nikola founder Trevor Milton deletes Twitter account amid fraud claims". September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  25. "https://twitter.com/aubreyfsmith/status/1308038927878623233". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-22. External link in |title= (help)
  26. Boston, Ben Foldy and William (2020-09-21). "Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Resigns as Executive Chairman Amid Fraud Allegations". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  27. "Sexual Assault Accusations Drive Ex-Nikola CEO To Delete Twitter Account A Day After Resigning". Jalopnik. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  28. Medina, Julissa (2020-09-23). "Is Nikola's stock price dropping due to #MeToo claims?". Film Daily. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  29. Kelly, Jack. "Nikola Founder Resigns: The Wild Cautionary Tale Of Trevor Milton Copycatting Elon Musk And Tesla". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  30. Wayland, Dawn Kopecki,Michael (2020-09-29). "Two women file sexual abuse complaints against Nikola founder Trevor Milton". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  31. Sonnemaker, Tyler. "A 2nd woman has reportedly accused Nikola Motors founder Trevor Milton of sexual assault". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  32. Wayland, Dawn Kopecki,Michael (2020-09-29). "Two women file sexual abuse complaints against Nikola founder Trevor Milton". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  33. Laviola, Erin (2020-09-21). "Trevor Milton's Wife & Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  34. Flemming, Jack (14 November 2019). "Nikola Motor head Trevor Milton drops $32.5 million on 2,000-acre Utah ranch". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  35. Clarke, Katherine. "Nikola Motor Chief Sets Utah Real Estate Record With $32.5 Million Buy". www.mansionglobal.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  36. Garber, Jonathan (15 September 2020). "Nikola CEO buys shares in face of SEC probe". Fox Business. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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