Trevor Milton

Trevor Milton is the founder and former CEO and executive chairman of Nikola Motor Company, an Arizona-based business that designs and manufactures electric components, drivetrains and vehicles. He built it with his brother Travis, who has a background in construction and remodeling.

Before Nikola, he founded dHybrid Inc., an alternative energy vehicle company that retrofitted commercial trucks with engines powered by natural gas instead of diesel. However, Milton closed the business when he found out that an investor with a large stake in it took the intellectual property. So, he started dHybrid Systems, which has the same business concept as its predecessor but is focused on natural gas and hydrogen storage systems.

Worthington Industries purchased it in 2014, and Milton used the initial investment of $2M as a seed to Nikola, which became a billion-dollar hydrogen truck business with a $3B valuation in September 2019. It struck a partnership with General Motors after a year; however, fraud allegations clouded the success of Milton and the company two days after the announcement – Hindenburg Research accused them of making false statements about business operations. Milton resigned as executive chairman in September 2020 but remained an unpaid consultant until December that same year. 

Milton is a college dropout from Utah Valley Stage College. As of September 2020, Forbes assessed his net worth to be at least $3.1B. He owns a 2,670-acre Utah ranch with a 16,800-square-foot riverside mansion, which is valued at $32.5M. Milton is married to Chelsey Bergmann, and they currently live in Phoenix, Arizona.