If GM Doesn't Want Nikola Shares, Why Should You?
A once-touted partnership between GM and the controversial electric-truck upstart has become little more than a traditional supplier contract.
The scaled-backed GM-Nikola deal is far from the endorsement it once was, and that should be a warning.
Photographer: Ash Ponders/BloombergIf General Motors Co. doesn’t want to own a chunk of Nikola Corp., why should you?
That’s the question after GM announced a much scaled-down partnership with the electric-vehicle upstart on Monday. The tie-up — initially announced in September — had been in flux amid allegations of deception at Nikola from a short-seller that the company has denied. That sparked a sharp recalibration of Nikola’s valuation and the subsequent departure of founder Trevor Milton as executive chairman, raising uncomfortable questions about whether GM really did its due diligence the first time around. The fact that there’s still any partnership with GM at all is a victory of sorts at this point for Nikola, but what remains is far from the endorsement it once was.