Nikola's Trevor Milton gives 50 employees $233 million worth of his stock

(Image: Reuters)

Nikola Corporation founder-chairman Trevor Milton has given 6 million of his shares to the first 50 employees hired at the US electric truck-maker.

The potential stock value of the options granted as of August 26 is around $233 million, the company said in a statement to NASDAQ.

"I promised those initial, daring employees that I would take care of them one day. Today, I make good on that promise and deliver over six million shares to the original employees who took the job and risked their careers on a long-shot idea," Milton said on August 27.

I love our employees. They make Nikola great & are the key to our success. I'm making good on my promise when I hired the first +- 50 employees - giving 6,000,000 of my personal shares to them. You'll see a reduction in my holdings for this. They are not sold, but given.

— Trevor Milton (@nikolatrevor) August 26, 2020

The shares will be under the same lockup. FYI.

— Trevor Milton (@nikolatrevor) August 26, 2020

The statement said Milton distributed 6,005,162 shares as part of an option award made in December 2017 to Nikola employees.

The employees are subject to lock-up requirements on the options through November 30, 2020.

"This grant of shares will not dilute the shareholders within Nikola Corporation. There will be no compensation by the company to the founder for this award of shares to the employees," Nikola added in the statement.

Nikola was founded in 2014 and began trading on the NASDAQ in June 2020.