Trevor Milton Must Pay $581K In Fees After Losing Suit Against CNBC And Hindenburg, Court Orders

Trevor Milton's unsuccessful defamation case against CNBC and Hindenburg Research has ended with another costly setback for the disgraced Nikola founder.

A New Jersey judge ordered the Nikola founder to reimburse CNBC $286,087 in attorneys' fees and litigation expenses after Milton ultimately lost his appeal. Hindenburg Research will also be reimbursed by Milton to the tune of $270,475 in fees, costs of $14,053 and $10,992 in other fees, according to the order, made available on Monday. 

Milton's lawsuit against CNBC and Hindenburg was dismissed with prejudice back in December. The payment follows a December 2025 appellate decision concluding that Milton's lawsuit ran afoul of New Jersey's anti-SLAPP statute, which is designed to deter meritless lawsuits aimed at protected speech by requiring losing plaintiffs to cover the prevailing party's legal costs. 

The legal bill stems from Milton's failed attempt to sue CNBC, Nathan Anderson, and Hindenburg Research over reporting tied to Nikola's collapse. In December 2025, a unanimous New Jersey appellate panel ruled that Milton's lawsuit had been filed too late and that his effort to repackage his claims as "trade libel" instead of defamation was legally unpersuasive. The court concluded the statements at issue concerned Milton's personal credibility and conduct—not a product—and therefore were governed by New Jersey's one-year statute of limitations. It dismissed the case with prejudice and directed the trial court to award attorneys' fees under the state's anti-SLAPP law.

Milton had alleged that CNBC knowingly aired false statements and that Hindenburg coordinated with the network to damage his reputation and business prospects following its 2020 report on Nikola. But the appeals court found those claims could not proceed. It also dismissed Milton's claim that Hindenburg aided and abetted CNBC's reporting after Milton's own attorney acknowledged during oral argument that the allegation could not survive if the underlying claims against CNBC failed.

The case centered on reporting that questioned Milton's repeated claims about Nikola's technology, including representations about proprietary battery breakthroughs and the readiness of its flagship trucks. Following Hindenburg's report, Nikola itself acknowledged that its widely circulated promotional video of the Nikola One truck showed the vehicle rolling downhill rather than driving under its own power. The company also backed away from claims that it had developed key battery technology internally, instead acknowledging its reliance on outside suppliers.

Those controversies ultimately led to federal criminal charges. Milton was indicted in 2021 on securities fraud and wire fraud charges, convicted in 2022 for misleading investors about Nikola's technology and business progress, and later received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. While the pardon erased his criminal conviction, it did not rescue his civil lawsuit. Instead, Milton's litigation ended with a dismissal, a six-figure fee award, and a more than $500,000 bill for Hindenburg and CNBC for bringing a case the courts ultimately found should never have proceeded.