Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton is discovering he has something else in common with rival Elon Musk: they both say their electric vehicle companies are the target of coordinated attacks on social media.
Milton lashed out at the negative tweets about its start, claiming “hired hands” have planned an “obviously coordinated” attack on the developer of semi-trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Musk has repeatedly protested against short sellers targeting Tesla Inc.
“Tesla fans have been the target of vicious attacks for years,” Milton said in one of a series of tweets Thursday night in the United States. “Now those vicious attacks are directed at us by many Tesla fans,” he said in another.
In a separate post, he wrote: “We have been tracking down negative tweets and most are not Nikola shareholders, but those hired hands who say they are selling all their shares just to fuel fear, telling others to do the same, what which turned out to be anti-nikola or paid attack bills. “
Milton’s outbreak came after Nikola shares fell for the third straight session, falling 13% on the Nasdaq. The Phoenix-based company asked customers to save up to $ 5,000 now to reserve the right in a few years to buy a battery-powered truck, even before seeing a prototype. The shares still rose nearly 70% since Nikola’s market debut in early June through a reverse merger.
The situation is reminiscent of what Tesla and Musk have struggled with for years, as the billionaire often runs into trouble for standing up to short sellers and posting market-moving information on Twitter without following the regulatory process. Even on Thursday, Musk teased the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Twitter over the rise in Tesla’s stock price and taunted short sellers in a series of tweets.
Milton’s grand ambitions, the fight on Twitter, and the choice of name for his company have generated inevitable comparisons with Musk, and both companies share the goal of rocking the truck market. Nikola sued Tesla in May 2018, alleging that the manufacturer of the Model 3 had copied the patented design features of its tractor trucks.
This story has been published from a cable agency source without modification to the text. Only the owner has been changed.
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