By Micah Maidenberg
Lordstown Motor Corp. said its chief executive and top financial leader have resigned, decisions that come amid a new report from a board committee that says some aspects of disclosures it made around truck pre-orders were inaccurate.
Lordstown, which plans to manufacture electric trucks at a plant in Ohio, on Monday said Steve Burns, its CEO, and Julio Rodriguez, its finance chief, had resigned, effective immediately. Mr. Burns also stepped down from the company’s board, according to Lordstown.
Efforts to reach Messrs. Burns and Rodriguez, including asking for comment through a company spokesman, weren’t immediately successful.
Angela Strand, the company’s lead independent director, has been appointed executive chairwoman of its board. She will oversee Lordstown during a transition period, until a permanent, new CEO is hired, the company said.
“We remain committed to delivering on our production and commercialization objectives, holding ourselves to the highest standards of operation and performance and creating value for shareholders,” Ms. Strand said in a statement.
A special board committee had said on Monday that parts of disclosures the company made about its pre-order book were inaccurate. One entity that provided a large number of pre-orders doesn’t appear to have the resources to complete large purchases or trucks, according to the committee, which analyzed the pre-orders as part of an investigation into a report about Lordstrown from short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The committee concluded that the Hindenburg report about Lordstown was false and misleading in significant respects.
Separately, earlier in June, the company said in a disclosure that it doesn’t have enough cash on hand to start full commercial production and has questions about whether it can continue as a going concern through the end of the year.
Lordstown also said Monday that, among other personnel changes, Becky Roof will serve as interim finance chief and that Jane Ritson-Parsons has been appointed operations chief.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
