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Nikola founder whittles holdings in electric truck startup

Trevor Milton sells 3.2 million of his 91.6 million shares

Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton sold about 3.2 million company shares, three days after a lockup lifted. He still owns 88.4 million shares and remains the company’s largest shareholder.

The biggest question surrounding last week’s expiration of a lockup on early buyers of Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) shares focused on what Trevor Milton would do with his 91.6 million shares.

The answer: Not much. At least not yet.

Milton sold about 3.2 million shares in three separate transactions on Friday, three days after the lockup lifted. He still owns 88.4 million shares and remains the company’s largest shareholder. 

Milton resigned from Nikola on Sept. 20, about 10 days after a scathing report by short seller Hindenburg Research alleged fraud and deception by Milton in overstating Nikola’s hydrogen fuel cell technology.


The price of Nikola shares fell about 14% last Tuesday on trading volumes about twice the typical daily volume of 27 million shares. Only one move triggered a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Fuel cell supplier and early Nikola investor Robert Bosch sold 4 million shares. That reduced its ownership to less than 5%, triggering a so-called 13-D filing.

Milton’s largest transaction involved 2,744,543 shares, according to an S-4 form filed Monday. He sold those at $18.98 each for a total of about $52.1 million. Two other transactions totaled 498,968 shares at lower prices.

Nikola shares closed Monday down 44 cents, or 2.33%, at $18.44.

Nikola shares crater as early investor lockup lifts


Trevor Milton can dump his Nikola shares — will he?

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Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.

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Alan Adler

Alan Adler is an award-winning journalist who worked for The Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press. He also spent two decades in domestic and international media relations and executive communications with General Motors.