Nikola Corporation

A Phoenix start-up promising hydrogen and battery-electric trucks, briefly worth ~$30B after a 2020 SPAC listing.

A company whose founder sold investors a truck that did not drive — the 2016 'in motion' video showed it rolling downhill — and hydrogen technology it did not have.

Trevor Milton founded Nikola in 2014 and promised a hydrogen-truck revolution; a 2016 video showed the Nikola One 'in motion' when it was actually rolling down a hill. After a June 2020 SPAC listing the company was briefly worth about $30 billion, more than Ford. Hindenburg Research's report on 10 September 2020 called it 'an intricate fraud'; Milton resigned ten days later. Nikola paid the SEC $125 million in December 2021, Milton was convicted in October 2022 and pardoned in March 2025, and the company filed for Chapter 11 in February 2025 and sold its assets.

SEC settlement 21 December 2021: Nikola paid a $125M civil penalty for misleading investors (without admitting or denying). Nikola sought $676M from Milton and won an arbitration award of ~$165M (October 2023). Milton was convicted in October 2022, sentenced to 4 years (December 2023) and pardoned by President Trump on 28 March 2025.