Lordstown Motors founder sells remaining stake in EV startup

Nu Ride

22/06/2023 15:06

June 22 (Reuters) - Lordstown Motors  RIDE.O  founder
and former CEO Stephen Burns has sold his entire stake in the
electric-vehicle maker, according to a regulatory filing.
    The company in May implemented a reverse stock split to
comply with Nasdaq's minimum $1 listing requirement and appease
investor Foxconn  2317.T  that had threatened to scrap a $170
million funding in the cash-strapped company.
    Burns has sold his stake in three transactions between May
and June, about 581,000 shares were divested before the reverse
stock split and 791,572 shares after, the filing on Wednesday
showed.
    The EV startup declined to comment on the stake sale.
    Earlier this month, Lordstown Motors said it planned to take
legal action against Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to
ensure the planned purchase of nearly 10% of the company's
shares was not derailed.
    Burns in 2021 resigned from the role of CEO alongside then
Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez following an internal
investigation by the company board into claims made by
short-seller Hindenburg. 
    Lordstown has acknowledged that it had overstated pre-orders
for its electric trucks but rejected Hindenburg's claims that
the company had misled investors about production plans and
exaggerated the potential of its technology.

 (Reporting by Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
 ((Tanya.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))