Trevor Milton

Trevor Milton was the founder and executive chairman of Nikola Corporation, an electric and hydrogen-powered truck startup. He was convicted at trial in October 2022 on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors established that Milton systematically lied to investors — through social media posts, media appearances, and public statements — about Nikola's technology, products, and business progress in order to inflate the company's value and attract investment. The most damaging evidence involved a 2018 promotional video appearing to show Nikola's prototype truck driving under its own power; prosecutors proved the vehicle was actually towed to the top of a hill and rolled downhill, having no working drivetrain. Milton took Nikola public via a SPAC merger in June 2020, briefly becoming a billionaire, before a short-seller report in September 2020 exposed the deceptions. Retail investors who bought into Milton's claims suffered combined losses of more than $660 million.