Nikola CEO Achieves Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Following Nikola’s first week as a publicly traded company, new CEO Mark Russell’s owned stock was catapulted to $1.3 billion.
Nikola Motor Company saw extraordinary gains during its first week of public trading. Its share prices more than doubled shortly after completing a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company VectoIQ, which was listed on the Nasdaq prior to the deal’s completion.
By the weekend, Nikola stock prices had risen from their opening 4 June price by 90%, and Nikola’s market valuation sat at $23.1 billion, a scant $2.6 billion below the market cap of Ford Motor Company.
The stock market gains catapulted the total value of Nikola CEO Mark Russell’s owned stock and interests to $1.3 billion.
This marks the creation of Nikola’s second billionaire. The first, company founder Trevor Milton, also experienced dramatic gains following the week of trading. As Nikola’s biggest shareholder, Milton’s net worth was valued at $7 billion by week’s end.
Based in Phoenix, Nikola Motor Company designs and intends to manufacture zero-emission 18-wheelers and pickups powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. It expects to sell or lease 7,000 battery-powered units and 5,000 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in 2024.
Nikola is also currently suing Tesla for $2 billion in damages for allegedly copying its Tesla Semi design from the Nikola One truck.
