Bad Bets unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our world. In Season 2, we delve into the story of Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who promised a future of zero-emission trucks but was taken down by a ragtag bunch of whistleblowers and short sellers. Season 2 is hosted by Ben Foldy.
As investors and General Motors bet on Trevor Milton’s vision, the short sellers at Hindenburg Research revealed that the company he founded, Nikola, wasn’t all that it seemed. The allegation that Nikola rolled its truck down a hill for a promotional video made Hindenburg’s report a sensation. In this episode, we’ll hear how Trevor Milton, investors and the U.S. government responded to the report—and how its authors ended up in a game of Spy vs. Spy with shadowy private investigators.
Ben Foldy is the host of this season of Bad Bets. Bad Bets is a production of The Wall Street Journal. This season is produced with Jigsaw Productions, in collaboration with Story Force Entertainment.
This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated.
Ben Foldy: From the Wall Street Journal, this is Bad Bets. I'm Ben Foldy. In the last episode, the Hindenburg team was almost done crafting its report on Nikola. The team was preparing to put its research on the line. Could it convince the market that Trevor Milton was a liar? This episode tells a story of that report's release and the strange events that followed,...
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