Trevor Milton built a $30 BILLION truck company. The truck had no motor. The only video of it driving was filmed by rolling it down a hill.

In 2014, Milton founded Nikola Motor in Salt Lake City. He had no college degree. He had dropped out of Utah Valley University after one semester. The pitch was hydrogen-electric semi-trucks. Zero emissions. 1,000 horsepower. A revolution in freight.
On December 1, 2016, he unveiled the Nikola One prototype on stage and told the crowd: "This thing fully functions and works." It had no gears, no motor, and no hydrogen fuel cell. It was plugged into a wall outlet through a power cord hidden beneath the stage.
In January 2018, Milton posted a video titled "Nikola One Electric Semi Truck In Motion." It showed the truck cruising at highway speed down a desert road. Nikola had towed it to the top of a hill on the Mormon Trail near Grantsville, Utah, and released the brakes. The camera was tilted to make the road appear flat.
He went on podcasts and social media claiming Nikola was producing hydrogen at 81% below industry cost. Federal prosecutors later proved the company was producing no hydrogen at all. Not at reduced cost. Not at any cost.
He announced the Nikola Badger pickup, described as engineered from the ground up. The prototypes were Ford F-150 Raptors with the markings hidden.
On June 4, 2020, Nikola went public via a SPAC merger with VectoIQ. Within days, shares hit $93.99. The market capitalisation briefly surpassed Ford. Milton's personal stake was worth approximately $12 BILLION. General Motors announced a $2 BILLION partnership. The company had no revenue and no functioning product.
On September 10, 2020, Hindenburg Research published a report titled "How to Parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America." The stock dropped more than 30%. Milton resigned ten days later.
In July 2021, a federal grand jury indicted him on three counts of securities fraud and wire fraud. Bail was set at $100 MILLION. During the trial, Nikola's own executives testified they had held an "intervention" to stop Milton from lying in interviews. The jury took a few hours to convict.
At sentencing, Milton sobbed. He never apologised. He spoke about the ethnic cleansing of the Cherokee, the wrongful conviction of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, and colours in heaven that do not exist on earth. He concluded: "Let me stay with my wife."
He was sentenced to four years in prison, $168 MILLION in restitution, and ordered to forfeit a 2,000-acre Utah ranch he had bought for $32.5 MILLION. It was the most expensive home sale in state history.
Retail investors lost more than $660 MILLION. Some lost their retirement savings. Nikola paid $125 MILLION to settle SEC charges. The GM deal collapsed.
On February 19, 2025, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $47 MILLION in cash. Lucid Motors bought its factory for $30 MILLION. The stock fell from $93.99 to below five cents.
Milton and his wife had donated more than $3.2 MILLION to Donald Trump's campaign. His defence attorney was Brad Bondi, brother of US Attorney General Pam Bondi. On March 27, 2025, Trump granted Milton a full and unconditional pardon. The $168 MILLION in restitution was erased. The SEC dropped all remaining charges. Milton became CEO of a jet company staffed by dozens of former Nikola employees.
The truck never drove. The company briefly outvalued Ford. The investors lost $660 MILLION. The founder got a pardon, a jet company, and a fresh start. The hill is still in Utah.