Trevor Milton

Milton was born in Layton, Utah to William L. Milton, a manager with Union Pacific Railroad, and Sallie Gwyn Hunt Milton, a realtor. He has one brother and three sisters. The family moved to Las Vegas when Milton was a toddler and later relocated to Kanab, Utah when he was eight. His mother died from cancer when he was 15 years old.^[6][7]

Milton is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). After graduating high school, Milton went on a LDS mission to Brazil, where he learned to speak fluent Portuguese. However, ill health cut his mission short after 18 months.^[6][7] He dropped out of college after one semester at Utah Valley University and then moved to the city of St. George, Utah.^[7][8]

Milton started an alarm sales company called St. George Security and Alarm after leaving college.^[9] He eventually exited the business and founded an alternative energy vehicle company called dHybrid, Inc. which retrofitted commercial trucks with engines that could run on natural gas instead of diesel. Disputes with investors eventually led to the dissolution of dHybrid, after which Milton launched dHybrid Systems in 2012.^[10] This company focused on natural gas storage systems for heavy-duty trucks and was later acquired by Worthington Industries.^[11]

In 2015, Milton founded Nikola Motor Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, initially known as Bluegentech,^[12] with an initial investment of $2 million from Worthington Industries.^[13][10][14] Inspired by Nikola Tesla, Milton aimed to revolutionize the commercial trucking industry by developing hydrogen-electric and battery-electric semi-trucks to provide sustainable and zero-emission alternatives to traditional diesel-powered vehicles.^[15] The company was rebranded as Nikola Motor Company to reflect this vision and Milton served as the CEO in Nikola's early years.^[16] Nikola introduced several prototype models, including the Nikola One, a hydrogen-electric semi-truck designed for long-haul transportation.^[17] The company later expanded its lineup to include models such as the Nikola Two, targeted at regional transport,^[18] and the Nikola Tre, developed in collaboration with European partner Iveco to cater to the European market.^[19][20] In addition to vehicle development, Milton led a plan to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen fuelling stations in collaboration with Nel Hydrogen.^[21][22]

In 2020, Nikola went public through a reverse merger with VectoIQ, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), achieving a valuation of approximately $12 billion. Following the merger, Milton became executive chairman of the board and turned over the CEO role to Mark Russell.^[23] By June 2020, the shares had more than doubled in selling price since they began trading, as investors continued to bet on the growth potential of electric transportation.^[24] On September 8, 2020, Nikola and General Motors announced a partnership, which led to an significant increase in the company’s stock price.^[25]

On September 10, 2020, two days after Nikola established ties with General Motors, short seller Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Milton of making false statements and calling the company "an intricate fraud."^[9] Following the report, Nikola’s stock price fell, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) launched investigations into securities fraud allegations involving Milton.^[26][27][28]

On September 20, 2020, Milton resigned from his position as executive chairman of Nikola Corporation.^{[2][29][30][31]} As part of his exit package, he remained an unpaid consultant to Nikola until December 2020^[32] and was restricted from publicly commenting on Nikola without prior approval.^[32] Milton retained 91.6 million shares of Nikola, valued at approximately $3.1 billion in late September 2020.^[32]

In September 2020, allegations of sexual misconduct against Milton were reported by media outlets, including CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.^[33][34] These claims, spanning incidents from 1999 and 2004, did not result in legal charges due to the statute of limitations.^[35][36] Milton has denied all allegations, describing them as unfounded and defamatory.^[37] The accusations coincided with ongoing scrutiny surrounding his tenure at Nikola Corporation.^[34]

In July 2021, a United States federal grand jury returned an indictment against Trevor Milton that included three counts of securities fraud and wire fraud. He also faced civil securities fraud charges from the SEC.^[38][39][40] Milton pleaded not guilty to the charges and was freed on $100 million bail.^[41] In June 2022, Milton was charged with an additional wire fraud charge.^[42] In October 2022, he was found guilty on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud^[43] and sentenced to four years in prison and a $1 million fine.^[44][45] It is expected Milton will, after credits earned through the First Step Act and other Bureau of Prisons programming, only serve approximately one year in federal prison.^[46]

Milton lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, Chelsey Bergmann, whom he married in 2017.^[47][48] In November 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Milton had bought a 2,000-acre Utah ranch with a 16,800 square foot riverside mansion for $32.5 million.^[49] The purchase price set a new record for a home in the state.^[50] He is friends with Dave "Heavy D" Sparks.^[51][52]

In September 2020, Forbes assessed Milton's net worth to be at at least $3.1 billion, as he owned about 25% of Nikola, which was valued at about $12.4 billion at the time.^[53] By June 2023, the total market capitalization of Nikola had dropped to under $400 million.

• CNBC Interview: Nikola executive chairman Trevor Milton on the company's public debut
• Q&A podcast with Trevor Milton, focusing on Nikola's financials and technology