(Reuters) -Lordstown Motors Corp’s former chief executive sold $13.5 million worth of shares in the electric vehicle startup on Monday, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, as it struggles to ramp up production of its Endurance pickup truck.
Steve Burns sold nearly 5.3 million shares, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed. On Tuesday, General Motors Co said it had sold 7.5 million Lordstown shares in the fourth quarter.
On Monday Lordstown estimated rolling out only 500 vehicles this year, far below its original sales forecast of about 32,000 in the first full year of production.
Burns, who was CEO from Lordstown’s founding in 2018 until he resigned in June 2021, remains its largest shareholder with nearly 38 million shares worth roughly $93 million on Wednesday.
He had sold 3.2 million shares in November, at the time worth around $18.8 million. The lockup period for common shareholders ended in October.
Lordstown declined to comment. Two lawyers for Burns did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Burns could not be reached for comment.
Burns resigned following an internal investigation into claims by short-seller Hindenburg Research that Lordstown had misled investors about demand for its vehicles and production capabilities.
Lordstown acknowledged overstating pre-orders for electric trucks, but rejected Hindenburg’s accusations it had overstated the viability of its technology and misled investors about production plans.
Lordstown shares have dropped more than 80% since the Hindenburg report in last March.
(Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Richard Chang)
