**From the Failing-Upward Department: The Rise and Fall of Nikola**
While we chronicled the fall of Nikola, a company that promised over-the-road trucks built with hydrogen propulsion systems, it’s useful to note that it was literally only this past February that the company declared bankruptcy.
Before that, the company was led by its previous CEO, Trevor Milton. Milton made wild promises to investors in order to secure more funding, including showing them video of its prototype truck zooming down a highway under its proprietary propulsion system. The only problem? It was doing no such thing.
Instead, the truck had been towed to the top of a hilly road and then coasted down, with footage taken at a tilted camera angle to make it look like it was actually being driven. Yes, it really was as cartoonish as that.
From there, the company suddenly lost a bunch of contracts, further accelerating its decline.
There is something of a con job already happening on the SyberJet website, where you can see this. The word “Renowned”? That should be “infamous.” And the claims about what Milton did and did not bring to market are pretty laughable.
The context about what happened after a few hundred trucks got sold is pretty damn important. For fuck’s sake, guys. And I do mean “guys.” This is the kind of failing upward you can only get from a certain privilege.
The ink on Milton’s pardon isn’t even dry yet, and he’s already CEO of another company. And they say you can’t get justice in America anymore.
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/10/17/convicted-fraudster-trevor-milton-rides-his-trump-pardon-to-another-ceo-job-somehow/