{"id":80089,"date":"2020-10-01T23:45:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T20:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/"},"modified":"2020-10-01T23:45:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T20:45:23","slug":"who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/","title":{"rendered":"#Who is Nikola founder Trevor Milton?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2553e19977d\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2553e19977d\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/#Trevor_Miltons_life_and_career\" >Trevor Milton\u2019s life and career<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/#Fraud_assault_allegations\" >Fraud, assault allegations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/#How_Nikolas_stock_responded\" >How Nikola\u2019s stock responded<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/#Latest_tech_scandal\" >Latest tech scandal<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Who is Nikola founder Trevor Milton?<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                        Nikola founder Trevor Milton\u2019s star has fallen even faster than it rose.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a month ago, the 38-year-old billionaire and his electric-truck startup <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared poised to usher in the next generation of high-tech vehicles when he inked a $2 billion partnership with industry giant <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Motors.<\/p>\n<p>But just two days later, a little-known short-seller accused Milton of building the five-year-old company on a web of lies and fraud. Then came the allegations that he sexually assaulted two women \u2014 one of them his own cousin \u2014 when each of them were just 15 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Milton has strenuously denied both sets of accusations. But he\u2019s nevertheless fallen from his perch as Nikola\u2019s chairman \u2014 and the company\u2019s stock price as tumbled alongside him.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look inside the life and career of the latest high-tech superstar to be engulfed in a swirl of controversy.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Trevor_Miltons_life_and_career\"><\/span>Trevor Milton\u2019s life and career<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Milton was born in Utah to Bill Milton, a retired Union Pacific Railroad manager, and Sally Milton, a realtor who died of cancer when he was a teenager. A 2019 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/alanohnsman\/2019\/09\/05\/behind-new-billionaire-trevor-miltons-3-billion-push-to-make-america-run-on-hydrogen\/#7883ceca379f\">Forbes profile<\/a> described Milton as a \u201clifelong garage tinkerer\u201d who developed an obsession with how things worked at a young age.<\/p>\n<p>Milton once <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trucks.com\/2019\/05\/08\/rough-childhood-helped-shape-nikolas-trevor-milton\/\">recalled to Trucks.com<\/a> how a lesson he learned from a railroad engineer when he was six planted the idea for Nikola in his mind. The engineer told him how locomotive trains were powered by electricity pumped out by their diesel engines and pointed to a truck running on a nearby highway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me that maybe one day they\u2019ll be smart enough to build a locomotive semi-truck, and that was my lightbulb,\u201d Milton told Trucks.com. \u201cI decided right then that someday I\u2019d build that locomotive semi. The next 30 years were all about preparing myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milton, a Mormon, reportedly gave college a try before dropping out after less than six months and spent 18 months on a mission to Brazil after high school. He became a sort of serial entrepreneur after landing back in Utah in 2003, when he started an alarm-and-surveillance company that he later sold before making a foray into online retail, according to Trucks.com.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, Milton founded dHybrid Systems, a company that designed natural-gas truck fueling systems that was bought in 2014 by metals manufacturer Worthington Industries, Forbes reported. The following year he started Nikola, which has designed semi trucks powered by batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, along with the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nikolamotor.com\/press_releases\/nikola-unveils-the-nikola-badger-pickup-73\">Badger pickup truck<\/a> that was unveiled in February.<\/p>\n<p>Milton served as Phoenix-based Nikola\u2019s CEO until June, when he handed the reins to Mark Russell \u2014 who previously worked at Worthington \u2014 and took the post of executive chairman, a job he left last week.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fraud_assault_allegations\"><\/span>Fraud, assault allegations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Nikola appeared headed for a bright future on Sept. 8, when it announced a $2 billion partnership with GM that would see the Detroit automaker take an 11 percent stake the company and manufacture the Badger pickup. But the buzz wouldn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, on Sept. 10, short-selling investment firm Hindenburg Research released a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hindenburgresearch.com\/nikola\/\">scathing report<\/a> calling Nikola an \u201cintricate fraud.\u201d The firm said it had gathered \u201cextensive evidence \u2014 including recorded phone calls, text messages, private emails and behind-the-scenes photographs \u2014 detailing dozens of false statements\u201d by Milton, whom it accused of lying about Nikola\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Among the allegations was that the company had staged a January 2018 video of its Nikola One semi truck by filming it rolling down a hill in neutral, not powered by its own engine.<\/p>\n<p>Nikola denied Hindenburg\u2019s claims and called the report \u201ca hit job for short sale profit driven by greed.\u201d Milton resigned as Nikola\u2019s chairman on Sept. 21, saying \u201cthe focus should be on the company and its world-changing mission, not me.\u201d Rumors swirled that day that Milton had been arrested, but they <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrianSozzi\/status\/1308059722923339776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1308059722923339776%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.streetinsider.com%2FRumors%2FNikola28NKLA29FounderTrevorMiltonHasNotBeenArrested-Yahoo%2F17378207.html\">turned out to be false<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The same day, Milton\u2019s cousin, Aubrey Ferrin Smith, posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of tweets accusing Milton of groping her after their grandfather\u2019s funeral in 1999, when she was 15 and he was 17. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/09\/29\/two-women-file-sexual-abuse-complaints-against-nikola-founder-trevor-milton.html?__source=newsletter%7Cbreakingnews\">CNBC confirmed her account<\/a> and spoke with a second woman who said Milton penetrated her vagina with his fingers in 2004, when she was a 15-year-old office assistant at a security company he ran.<\/p>\n<p>Both woman have reportedly filed formal complaints with police about the alleged abuse. But a spokesman for Milton has said he \u201cstrongly denies these false allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt no point in his life has Mr. Milton ever engaged in any inappropriate physical contact with anyone,\u201d the spokesman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Nikolas_stock_responded\"><\/span>How Nikola\u2019s stock responded<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The GM deal and the controversies that followed sent Nikola\u2019s shares on a wild ride. The stock price surged more than 40 percent after the GM deal was announced on Sept. 8 to close at $50.05 a share. But the Hindenburg allegations on Sept. 10 sent it on a freefall, and it closed the following trading day at $32.13.<\/p>\n<p>The stock fell further in the wake of Milton\u2019s resignation, a report that negotiations for some corporate partnerships had stalled, and finally the sexual assault allegations, which led the shares to close at $17.88 on Tuesday. They recovered Wednesday after Nikola said it\u2019s still committed to its business plan, and were up another 16.1 percent at $23.79 as of 3:06 p.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the carnage, there was nevertheless consolation for Milton, who early last week got to keep more than 91.6 million Nikola shares under a separation agreement with the firm. His stake is currently worth more than $2.2 billion, based on Nikola\u2019s closing share price of $24.11 on Thursday.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Latest_tech_scandal\"><\/span>Latest tech scandal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Milton\u2019s saga has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/21454738\/nikola-cult-founder-worship-trevor-milton-general-motors\">drawn<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/investing\/comments\/gzej8h\/nkla_is_nikola_motor_the_next_theranos_is_trevor\/\">comparisons<\/a> to Elizabeth Holmes, the onetime Silicon Valley wunderkind who founded Theranos, a medical startup that allegedly peddled inaccurate blood tests while claiming to have revolutionary technology.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16385693\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img class=\"wp-image-16385693 size-nypost-large-desktop-uncropped lazyload\" alt=\"\" width=\"662\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=662 662w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1324 1324w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 662px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span>Trevor Milton<\/span><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Milton and Holmes, 36, are college dropouts of a similar age who developed reputations as visionaries armed with disruptive ideas. They also won high-profile alliances with major companies \u2014 Theranos had a deal to provide blood tests for Walgreens before it collapsed, while Nikola has its pending partnership with GM.<\/p>\n<p>But there are some important differences between the two \u2014 namely that Milton has not been charged with any crime. Holmes is set to face a trial in March on federal charges that she and ex-Theranos executive Sunny Balwani used false claims to scam investors out of millions of dollars. Both have pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Nikola is a publicly traded company, which means it has to disclose financial data and other information to investors and the public. Theranos was privately held, which allowed it to maintain a degree of secrecy.\n            <\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/10\/01\/who-is-nikola-founder-trevor-milton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Who is Nikola founder Trevor Milton?&#8221; Nikola founder Trevor Milton\u2019s star has fallen even faster than it rose. Less than a month ago, the 38-year-old billionaire and his electric-truck startup appeared poised to usher in the next generation of high-tech vehicles when he inked a $2 billion partnership with industry giant General Motors. But just&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/trevor-milton-3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[73789,70462,71006,39190,70359],"class_list":["post-80089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-1-20","tag-electric-cars","tag-fraud","tag-sexual-assault","tag-stocks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}