https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nikola-g ... 11658.html
Kara Carlson and Dorothy Ma
Wed, February 19, 2025 at 9:55 AM EST
Nikola Corp. filed for bankruptcy, culminating a long decline for the onetime darling of the electric-vehicle industry, which grappled with weak sales and cycled through CEOs in the wake of a fraud scandal.
The company has been on a tumultuous journey since it went public in 2020 through a deal with a special purpose acquisition company, with its stock surging in its early days. Shortly after, Bloomberg News reported that founder Trevor Milton had overstated the capability of Nikola’s debut truck. Those allegations, coupled with a subsequent short-seller campaign targeting the company, led to Milton’s ouster and later conviction on fraud charges.
In recent years, the company has endured cash-flow issues, slow demand and executive turnover. Nikola also recalled its battery-electric trucks after battery fires in 2023 prompted it to temporarily halt sales.
Nikola’s market value peaked at $29 billion in the days after it began trading, but it had fallen to less than $100 million before the filing.
