Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Nikola‘s founder and former CEO Trevor Milton has been ruled, by U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa in Phoenix, to pay $167.7 million to the company over incorrect and misleading statements.
The amount includes 97 per cent of Nikola’s $125 million fine from settling a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil fraud case ($121.25 million) plus nearly $46.5 million in legal fees and expenses, as Reuters reported late Tuesday.
Milton had recently discreetly withdrawn his $1 billion lawsuit against several executives of the Arizona-based company removing it from his website.
In early June, Milton announced via social media that he had filed a derivative and malpractice lawsuit targeting directors and Nikola’s Chief Legal Officer Britton Worthen.
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The judge said the panel acted within its authority in interpreting a separation agreement that Milton entered when he resigned as Nikola’s chief executive in September 2020.
To Humetewa, the former CEO claimed that the decision did not consider the “relative fault” of his former colleagues at the company including executives, directors and employees, as detailed initially by Reuters.
Milton, who stepped down as chairman in 2020 amid allegations of fraud, asserted in his post that the controversial video showing a Nikola truck rolling down a hill—purportedly to falsely demonstrate its functionality—was orchestrated by Worthen.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
