- The founder of Nikola was charged with making fraudulent statements to drive up the value of Nikola's stock.Trevor Milton, the founder and former chairman and CEO of electric heavy truck maker Nikola, was found guilty in federal court Friday of three of four counts of fraud relating to false statements he made to drive up the value of Nikola's stock."It won't end well," he said.Nikola's stock price briefly surged to over $90 per share in June 2020, just days after it went public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission both opened investigations in the months following Milton's departure."