Nikola founder Trevor Milton wants to buy the bankrupt startup’s assets

Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who was recently pardoned after being convicted of securities fraud, is trying to buy the assets of his former company out of bankruptcy, according to new court filings and a person familiar with the matter. Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February and has said it hopes to sell its business by the middle of this month. Milton’s bid was met with a frosty reception — filings show the company stopped him from personally inspecting the assets at its Coolidge, Arizona factory earlier this month, as The Phoenix Business Journal previously reported. Milton’s interest in Nikola is the latest twist in the company’s long, odd story. Milton founded the company in 2014, took it public in one of the first high-profile special purpose acquisition mergers in 2020, stepped down a few months later after fraud allegations surfaced, and was convicted in 2022. He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2023, and just last month was pardoned by Presiden ... Read full article.