Nikola Corp. CEO Mark Russell told a New York federal jury Monday that he had concerns about joining the electric-truck company because he believed its founder, Trevor Milton, “was prone to exaggeration in public statements.”
Testifying in Milton’s securities-fraud trial, Russell said that before coming on board in 2019 as president of Nikola NKLA, -10.55%, he and Milton reached an agreement that Russell would become the chief executive officer if Nikola became a publicly traded company. Russell said he sought the arrangement because as head of a public company, statements from the CEO needed to be accurate.