American businessman, ex-felon, and Nikola Corporation founder Trevor Robert Milton was born on April 6, 1982. Milton also served as the company’s executive chairman and chief executive officer.
Following allegations of securities fraud by Nikola and himself, which the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice began investigating in September 2020, Milton stepped down as executive chairman.
Milton was released on $100 million bond after being accused on three counts of securities fraud and wire fraud in July 2021 by federal prosecutors. Additional charges of wire fraud were brought against him in June 2022. Three of the four counts were found guilty against him in October 2022.
Trevor Milton Net Worth
American businessman Trevor Milton is worth an estimated $250 million. Trevor Milton is well-known for his role as a co-founder of Nikola, a company that makes electric trucks. Nikola entered the $30 billion market cap range just one week after its June 2020 SPAC IPO. Trevor had a paper net worth of just less than $12 billion when that happened.
In September 2020, Trevor stepped down from his position at the company following accusations of deceiving investors. When Trevor was at the peak of his career, people often made comparisons to Elon Musk. Three counts of criminal charges, including securities fraud, were found guilty against Trevor in October 2022. Trevor was handed a four-year prison term in December 2023.
Trevor Milton Early Life
When Milton saw an opportunity in sales and marketing, he left college to pursue it. He made $300,000 before selling out of his alarm sales company. Afterwards, he established dHybrid, Inc., an alternative energy vehicle firm, and an online used automobile business.
Trevor Milton Nikola
Originally established in Utah, Trevor Milton relocated Nikola Motor Company to Phoenix in 2015. In June 2020, he made the firm public through a reverse IPO SPAC merger, which occurs when a non-public company buys out a public one. Trevor sold shares valued at $90 million during the SPAC process.
Nikola was worth roughly $30 billion just one week after going public. Even though it had never made a car, the company’s worth briefly surpassed Ford’s, despite its tiny income. Actually, the business came clean about the fact that in the second quarter of 2020, it made a meager $36,000 in revenue, and that was entirely due to a price for installing solar panels on one of Trevor Milton’s private residences.
Trevor reached an all-time high net worth of about $12 billion, thanks to his ownership stake of 40% in the corporation. By mid-2022, his equity share had been cut to 20% from its initial value. He continued to occupy the position of largest individual stakeholder in the corporation at that time.
Trevor Milton Real Estate
He spent $32.5 million in 2019 for a Utah ranch that was 2,670 acres. It became the most expensive home ever bought in Utah. A helipad and a 17,000 square foot riverfront house are features of the 8-bedroom property.
Trevor Milton Gulfstream Jet
During his heyday, Trevor splashed out on a Gulfstream private jet worth $6 million. A member of the Nikola board was the vendor. The plane was purchased by Trevor using six million dollars’ worth of Nikola shares. He went on to purchase two more planes.
Trevor Milton Resignation
In 2020, following accusations of fraud, Trevor decided to leave Nikola. A Nikola truck supposedly demonstrated autonomous operation with an electric engine in a promotional movie that was aired years ago in an effort to attract investors. The truck was actually coasting downhill unpowered, as was later discovered.
Concurrently, when they were both 18 years old, one of Milton’s female relatives accused him of touching her improperly when she was 15 and he was 18. The accusation was rejected by Milton. Trevor gave up $166 million in shares and a $20 million consulting deal when he decided to step down. The 92 million shares he had were worth almost $3 billion when he resigned, yet he was allowed to retain them.
Today, those shares would be worth almost $275 million if he had hung on to them all. Those shares were not all held onto by him. Since stepping down, Trevor has sold shares on public markets totaling $300 million.
Trevor Milton Fraud Conviction
Trevor faced indictment for securities and wire fraud in July 2021. His release was contingent upon his posting of a $100 million bond, following his not-guilty plea. All three counts—two for wire fraud and one for securities fraud—were ruled guilty in October 2022. His four-year term in federal prison was handed down in December 2023. Eleven years had been sought by the prosecution.
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