Hushpupi: Meet Trevor Milton, the new goat of streets and his end.
Sinach
Published Date:
Oct 25, 2024
Last Updated:
Look at this man.
He disrupted a $1 trillion industry and was feared by Elon Musk.
He Built an utopian company valued at $34 billion, but now he’s in prison for running one of the biggest scams in history.
Let’s Beginning
Trevor Milton wasn’t born into wealth,but he had big dreams.
In 2016, he launched Nikola Motors with a promise to revolutionize transportation.
He became the star of the show!
The Nikola One:
A truck that would run on hydrogen, travel 1,000 miles, and only take 15 minutes to refuel, he said.
But the truck behind him was just a shell, it couldn’t drive.
The scam
Milton convinced Bosch, GM, and other major players to invest in his vision.
They didn’t ask too many questions, because of the hypes and initial gara-gara.
Milton hyped up his truck, took pre-orders, and claimed it was ready for production.
But in reality, the truck was still just a frame on wheels.
The Stunt.
In 2018, to silence the doubters, Nikola released a video of the Nikola One “in motion.”
But what investors didn’t know.
The truck was towed to the top of a hill and simply rolled down for the cameras.
But he wasn't done yet:
The battery scam
He claimed Nikola had developed a revolutionary new battery that could outlast any on the market.
Investors bought the hype, and Nikola’s stock soared.
But the truth?
Nikola had no such technology.
The company had acquired another scam battery firm, ZapGo, which had nothing to offer.
His fall was near:
The fall
In 2020, the truth finally came out.
Hindenburg Research exposed Nikola as an “intricate fraud,” filled with lies, fake technology, and empty promises.
Milton resigned.
He was charged with securities fraud.
And Nikola’s stock plummeted by 40%
Sentenced to prison
In 2023, Trevor Milton’s lies finally caught up to him.
He was sentenced to federal prison for defrauding investors out of billions.
This event marked the end of his tech fairy tale..
No matter how long a crime is hidden, one day it will be exposed, say no to cybercrime
About the Author
Sinach
A les Avocat, living with the It Begins With Me Mantra and determined to dot all i's and cross all t's for a better Nigeria.
