By 
A federal jury in New York convicted Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton of securities fraud for what prosecutors said were his repeated lies about the development of the company’s zero-emissions trucks and technology.
The guilty verdict caps the downfall of Milton, who founded Nikola
NKLA,
-1.29%
in his basement in 2015 and took it public in 2020 at a valuation of $3.3 billion, when the company hadn’t sold a single truck. The company’s market valuation briefly exceeded that of industry giants such as Ford Motor Co.
F,
-0.85%
Milton resigned from Nikola in September 2020 after a short seller report alleged he made a litany of misrepresentations about the company.
See also (from Sept. 16): Nikola CEO tells jury he had concerns over founder Trevor Milton’s ‘exaggerations’ to investors
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
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