Lordstown Motors

The company had acquired a former General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in 2019 and went public via a SPAC merger in 2020.⁵⁷¹⁰¹⁶ Lordstown Motors faced allegations of misleading investors about pre-orders and production timelines, leading to SEC charges and a class action settlement.¹³¹⁴¹⁶

Timeline

Money raised

Lordstown Motors raised a $5 million seed round in November 2019 at a $700 million valuation.⁷ Lordstown Motors raised a $10 million Series A round in July 2020 from E Squared Capital Management.⁷ Lordstown Motors merged with SPAC DiamondPeak Holdings in October 2020, with a transaction value of $1.6 billion and gross proceeds of approximately $675 million.⁷¹⁶ General Motors provided a roughly $40 million loan to Lordstown Motors for the purchase of the Lordstown Assembly Plant.⁷ Lordstown Motors sold its Lordstown, Ohio, factory to Foxconn for $230 million in May 2022.⁵¹⁷ The stockholders litigation settlement was for $15,500,000 in cash.¹⁴

Investors named in the sources: E Squared Capital Management⁷, General Motors⁵⁷, Workhorse Group⁷.

What happened

Lordstown Motors was an electric vehicle maker founded in 2018 and headquartered in Warren, Ohio, producing the Endurance pickup truck for fleets.⁷ In November 2019, Lordstown Motors purchased the Lordstown Assembly Plant from General Motors.⁵⁷ The purchase was financed with a roughly $40 million loan from General Motors.⁷ Lordstown Motors raised a $5 million seed round in November 2019 at a $700 million valuation.⁷ In July 2020, Lordstown Motors raised a $10 million Series A round from E Squared Capital Management.⁷

On August 3, 2020, Lordstown Motors and DiamondPeak Holdings announced a definitive merger agreement valuing Lordstown at an implied $1.6 billion pro forma equity value.¹⁶ The merger was expected to deliver approximately $675 million in gross proceeds.¹⁶ Lordstown Motors completed its merger with DiamondPeak Holdings on October 23, 2020, and became publicly listed on Nasdaq.⁷¹⁰¹⁴ General Motors took a small stake of under 5% in Lordstown Motors when it went public.⁵ General Motors sold its stake in Lordstown Motors in 2021 after an initial lock-up period expired.⁵

In 2021, Lordstown Motors notified federal regulators that it did not have enough money to begin production of its trucks.⁵ In February 2022, Lordstown Motors announced it expected to produce and sell up to 3,000 EV pickups through the end of 2023, including just 500 in 2022.⁵ Prior to going public, Lordstown Motors had said it expected to build 2,000 vehicles in the year it started production and then 32,000 during its first full year operating the plant.⁵ The difference between the two sets of predictions, along with the discovery that the company had made misleading claims about the size and quality of preorders for its pickups, led to the resignation of its CEO and CFO and spawned an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.⁵ In May 2022, Lordstown Motors sold the plant to Foxconn for $230 million.⁵¹⁷

Foxconn said it would use the factory to build electric vehicles for auto brands like Fisker and Lordstown Motors itself.⁵ Media coverage reported that had Lordstown Motors not sold the plant, it would have run out of cash and potentially faced bankruptcy.⁵ At the time the plant was sold, it employed 400 people.⁵ In December 2022, Lordstown Motors announced that its Endurance pickup truck achieved full approval and certification from the EPA and CARB.¹⁷ Lordstown Motors also sued Foxconn in June 2023.¹¹⁷

The lawsuit alleged fraud, breach of the investment agreement, and tortious interference.¹⁷ On February 29, 2024, the SEC charged Lordstown Motors with misleading investors about its flagship electric vehicle.¹³ The SEC also charged the company's former auditor.¹³ On March 14, 2024, Nu Ride Inc., formerly Lordstown Motors, emerged from bankruptcy as a public reporting company.¹⁷ At year-end 2024, Nu Ride's assets consisted primarily of $29.5 million in unrestricted cash, $23.4 million in restricted short-term investments, $1.1 billion in net operating loss carry forwards, and various causes of action.¹⁷

A stockholders class action lawsuit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against certain Lordstown Motors directors and officers.¹⁴ The stockholders litigation settled for $15,500,000 in cash.¹⁴ The settlement was approved by the Court on July 5, 2024.¹⁴ A securities fraud class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of purchasers of Lordstown Motors securities between August 3, 2020 and July 2, 2021.¹⁶ The securities fraud class action alleged that Lordstown Motors made false and misleading statements about pre-orders being non-binding, customers lacking means to purchase, production timelines, and a test vehicle catching fire.¹⁶

As of June 6, 2025, the securities fraud class action was ongoing with a motion to dismiss pending.¹⁶ In September 2025, a U.S. District Court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court's decision to partially deny Foxconn's motion to dismiss Nu Ride's lawsuit.¹⁷

Legal outcomes

• chargedThe SEC charged Lordstown Motors with misleading investors about its flagship electric vehicle.¹³
• chargedThe SEC also charged the company's former auditor.¹³
• filedA stockholders class action lawsuit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against certain Lordstown Motors directors and officers.¹⁴
• settledThe stockholders litigation settled for $15,500,000 in cash.¹⁴
• filedA securities fraud class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.¹⁶
• filedThe securities fraud class action alleged that Lordstown Motors made false and misleading statements.¹⁶
• filedLordstown Motors filed a lawsuit against Foxconn in June 2023.¹¹⁷
• filedThe lawsuit alleged fraud, breach of the investment agreement, and tortious interference.¹⁷
• pendingIn September 2025, a U.S. District Court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court's decision to partially deny Foxconn's motion to dismiss.¹⁷

Sources

1. Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy, sues Foxconn, reuters.com, Jun 27, 20
2. Lordstown Motors, Once Considered an Ohio Town's ..., wsj.com, Jun 27, 20
4. EV startup Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy, wjhl.com, Jun 27, 20
5. #EconDevWeek22 Disaster Story #13: Ohio’s Long History With Lordstown Assembly, The Center for Economic Accountability, 2022-05-13
7. Lordstown Motors Valuation, Funding & Investors | Multiples, multiples.vc, Sep 18, 20
10. Lordstown Motors joins electric-vehicle rush to stock market, autofinancenews.net
13. SEC Charges Lordstown Motors with Misleading Investors ..., sec.gov, Feb 29, 20
14. Home | Lordstown Motors Stockholders Litigation, lordstownmotorsstockholderslitigation.com
15. Stark Novus Financial Inc., et al. (f/k/a Nu Ride Inc. and ..., veritaglobal.net
16. Lordstown Motors Corp. f/k/a DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. Securities Fraud Class Action | New Cases | Kessler Topaz, Kessler Topaz
17. EV startup’s lawsuit against Foxconn will proceed, Repairer Driven News, 2025-09-17

How this case file was put together

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