Nikola Corporation
The Truck That Rolled Downhill: A $30 Billion Fraud on Video
Nikola claimed to have built a hydrogen-electric semi-truck. Founder Trevor Milton raised billions from investors and partnered with GM on the strength of a video showing the Nikola One 'in motion.' Hindenburg Research revealed the truck was actually rolling downhill — the motors were off. Milton was convicted of securities fraud in 2022. Nikola filed Chapter 11 in 2025.
Key Figures
Timeline
Trevor Milton founds Nikola Motors. Claims to have revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Nikola goes public via SPAC merger. Stock triples in days. Market cap exceeds Ford at $30B+.
GM announces $2B partnership with Nikola. Nikola stock surges.
Hindenburg Research publishes report: Nikola One promotional video shows truck rolling downhill — motors are off. Prototype was non-functional.
Trevor Milton resigns. Nikola admits the truck was not self-propelled in the video. Stock crashes 40%.
Trevor Milton convicted on 3 of 4 counts of securities fraud. Sentenced to 4 years.
Nikola files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Investors lose nearly everything.
What Caused It
- 1Core product was a non-functional prototype filmed rolling downhill — the entire company was a video production, not a truck manufacturer
- 2SPAC merger allowed Nikola to go public with financial projections (not historical results) — bypassing traditional IPO scrutiny
- 3GM's due diligence failed to verify the most basic claim: that the truck actually worked
- 4Founder Trevor Milton's pattern of grandiose false claims: 'zero emissions,' 'game-changing technology,' 'revolutionary battery' — none existed
Lessons Learned
- 💡If the product demo is a truck rolling downhill, the company is rolling downhill too
- 💡SPACs let companies go public with projections instead of results — and projections can be pure fiction
- 💡GM (one of the world's largest automakers) couldn't tell a real truck from a gravity-powered prop
- 💡When a founder claims 10 revolutionary technologies simultaneously, zero is the likely count