The top two executives at Lordstown Motors have resigned as problems at the Ohio electric truck startup mount.
CEO Steve Burns and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez stepped down, the company said Monday, sending shares already down 40% this year tumbling more than 17%.
The departures were announced on the same day that Lordstown responded to a scathing March report from the short-selling firm Hindenburg Research which questioned the number of preorders the company claimed to have received for its marquee Endurance vehicle.
Lordstown said that while its independent investigation found that the vast majority of the Hindenburg report was unsubstantiated, it acknowledged that one potential buyer that made a large number of preorders doesn’t appear to have adequate resources to make those purchases. Other preorders appear too vague or weak to be relied on, the company said Monday.
The report spawned four potential class-action lawsuits against Lordstown by investors who claim they were defrauded.