Daniel Ninivaggi will take over as CEO of Lordstown Motors following the resignation of Steve Burns.
Burns, the company’s founder, stepped down along with its CFO following an internal investigation precipitated by a document released by Hindenburg Research. The short-seller revealed that the company had misrepresented its preorders, which was followed by an SEC probe in March and a U.S. Justice Department investigation in July.
Read More: Lordstown Motors CEO And CFO Resign After Company Admits Inaccurate Pre-order Disclosures
Speaking to Reuters, the new CEO said that job one is ensuring that the company is on track to produce its Endurance electric pickup truck because “without that, you can’t raise capital.”
“The financing is going to come when people believe in the product and the production,” Ninivaggi said. “If they believe the story and we prove to them that we hit these milestones, I’ll have a lot of friends.”
Ninivaggi added that he won’t let the investigations into the company distract him from the important work of launching the electric pickup truck. He added that the matter doesn’t need to be settled in order to raise more funds.
Indeed, on July 28, just 21 days after the Justice Department investigation was made public, Lordstown managed to sell $400 million worth of its stock to hedge fund Yorkville Advisors, suggesting that investors are still interested in the electric vehicle manufacturer.
Ninivaggi was formerly in charge of Icahn Enterprises’ automotive aftermarket service network and parts distribution company. His appointment appears to have pleased investors as Lordstown‘s stock rose 16.5 percent.