Nikola Founder Pleads Not Guilty, Freed on $100 Million Bail

Nikola Corp. founder and former chairman Trevor Milton was freed by a judge on $100 million bond, after pleading not guilty to charges that he misled investors about the status of the electric-vehicle maker.

The bail was secured by two properties that Milton owns in Utah, one of which is worth $36 million and the other $4 million, lawyers said at the hearing Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Under terms of his release, which will happen today, he is limited in his movements and barred from contacting investors, other than ones with whom he has a personal relationship.