Aftermath of Hindenburg Research Fraud Allegations... Hindenburg "Resignation Is Just the Beginning"
US Securities Regulators and DOJ Investigations Not Even Two Weeks Old
[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola, a US hydrogen electric vehicle company that was once spotlighted as the 'second Tesla' but recently embroiled in fraud controversy, resigned on the 20th (local time).
Nikola officially announced in a statement that Milton stepped down from his positions as chairman and board member. Nikola stated that Milton himself decided and proposed to resign from the board and chairman positions, and the board accepted this. Nikola also announced that Steven Girsky, a board member and former vice chairman of General Motors (GM), will succeed Milton as chairman.
Milton's resignation came less than two weeks after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice began investigating Nikola's fraud allegations. On the 10th, Hindenburg Research, a short-selling specialized research firm, pointed out that Nikola did not possess any technology or facilities for hydrogen electric vehicle production and that all previously announced prototypes and materials were fabricated.
In response, Nikola claims that Hindenburg released the report to manipulate the market for profit by short-selling Nikola's stock and driving down the share price. Hindenburg argues that Nikola has failed to properly respond to their concerns. On the same day, Hindenburg posted on Twitter, "Milton's resignation is just the beginning."
Nikola has been a company that attracted investors as the 'second Tesla' and was listed on the Nasdaq market in June through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). At one point, the company's stock price rose to $79.73 in June, but after the recent report, the stock closed at $34.19 on the 18th.
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