Former Lordstown Motors CEO Starts to Unload Stock

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Former Lordstown Motors Corp. CEO Steve Burns has unloaded more than 3.2 million shares of that company’s stock worth more than $18.8 million, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

Burns, who founded the electric-vehicle manufacturer in 2019, resigned in June after an internal investigation determined that company executives made misleading statements regarding pre-orders of the company’s first vehicle, the all-electric Endurance pickup.

The filing on Tuesday shows that Burns sold 3,204,000 shares of Lordstown Motors stock on Nov. 12 at $5.88 per share. He is entitled to the proceeds of the stock sale.

Lordstown Motors trades under the ticker symbol RIDE.

According to regulatory filings, Burns held 26.25% of stock in Lordstown Motors. He still holds 29.2 million direct shares and 13.9 million of indirect shares in the company – still the single largest shareholder at Lordstown Motors.

According to earlier regulatory filings, half of Burns’ shares were locked until October 2021. The other half of his shares are under lock until October 2022.

As part of his severance package, Burns received a base pay of $750,000 to be paid in equal installments over 18 months. The former CEO is also bound to a two-year non-compete clause. 

Other former executives cashed in RIDE stock earlier this year.

Former Lordstown Motors president Rich Schmidt, who stepped down last week after Edward Hightower was appointed to that position, raised eyebrows when it was revealed that he jettisoned more than $6.38 million worth of stock over four transactions between Dec. 12, 2020, and Feb. 3, 2021.

Former chief financial officer Julio Rodriguez, who resigned in June with Burns, cashed in shares during this period worth a total of $251,100, documents show.

Pictured: File photo of former Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns at an event in March 2020.

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