, Columnist
Mary Barra Needs to Explain GM’s Nikola Misstep
It’s unclear whether the CEO and her due diligence team were appropriately skeptical of an unproven startup.
More transparency, please.
Photographer: Joshua Lott/Getty Images
General Motors Co. has largely backed out of one of the year’s strangest deals — a partnership with an unproven startup, Nikola Corp. — that was meant to signal the auto giant’s commitment to electric vehicles. It has unspooled, instead, as a cautionary tale about weak corporate governance.
At the center of the debacle is Mary Barra, GM’s talented and well-regarded chief executive officer, and Stephen J. Girsky, a former GM executive who put the Nikola transaction in front of Barra in the first place.