Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🚨 Nikola’s CFO, Anastasiya Pasterick, has resigned to “pursue other opportunities” after succeeding Kim Brady earlier this year.
- 💼 Pasterick will assist in the transition to the new CFO until December 1, and Nikola plans to select a successor soon.
- 🔍 Nikola has struggled to retain executives, with the recent departure following the fraud conviction of founder Trevor Milton.
- 📉 Nikola’s current CEO, Stephen Girsky, is the fourth in four years, and the company faced the risk of being delisted from NASDAQ due to stock price fluctuations.
- 🔥 The resignation comes after Nikola reported a larger-than-average loss in Q3, suspended sales, and issued recalls for its battery-electric semis due to coolant leaks causing fires.
- 🚚 In addition to electric semis, Nikola recently started delivering hydrogen fuel cell semi-trucks, receiving non-binding orders from 23 customers.
- 🌐 The company’s executive shake-up occurs amid challenges, including difficulties in meeting NASDAQ stock exchange requirements and legal issues.
Zero-emission semi-truck manufacturer Nikola said this week that its CFO has resigned after succeeding the role’s former executive earlier this year.
On Friday, Nikola announced that CFO Anastasiya Pasterick is resigning to “pursue other opportunities,” following her succession of Kim Brady in March (via Reuters). Pasterick is expected to help the company transition to its next CFO through December 1, and the company plans to select her successor soon. In the meantime, financial leaders will be expected to report to CEO Stephen Girsky.
Brady had been with Nikola since 2020 and was widely considered to have taken the company public in 2020 through a merger with a blank-check firm.
The news of Pasterick’s departure is just the latest in Nikola’s difficulty retaining executives, and it comes just days after former CEO and founder Trevor Milton requested probation after being found guilty of fraud and ordered to pay $165 million in damages last month. Milton was originally indicted for three counts of fraud in 2021, after making misleading statements about the capabilities of Nikola’s Tre battery-electric semi.
Girsky is Nikola’s fourth CEO in four years, after he took over for former CEO Michael Lohscheller earlier this year. Throughout this year, Nikola has been teetering on the verge of becoming delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange after the company’s shares dropped briefly below the minimum bid price requirements.
In addition to battery-electric semis, Nikola also begun its delivery of hydrogen fuel cell semi-trucks last month, announcing as many as 223 non-binding orders from 23 separate customers.
The executive shake-up also comes after Nikola reported its Q3 earnings earlier this month, during which it announced a larger-than-average loss due to the company suspending sales and issuing recalls on all 209 of the battery-electric semis it has built. The recall follows the discovery of a reoccurring coolant leak inside its battery packs, causing multiple vehicles to catch fire.
