Category: Board Of Directors

Andrew Vessey has been a member of Nikola’s board of directors since October 2022. Vessey has more than 40 years of diverse utility industry experience and is currently President and CEO North America at Fortescue Future Industries.

Prior to joining Fortescue Future Industries, in 2019, Vesey co-founded Earthrise Energy Inc., a firm focused on delivering critical energy services to customers and the electric grid. Additional former executive roles include serving as chief executive and president of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), chief executive and managing director of AGL Energy, and chief operating officer of AES Corporation.

Vesey spent several years as an energy industry consultant and leader at firms including FTI Consulting and Ernst & Young. He also served as chief executive and managing director of Melbourne-based CitiPower in Australia and began his career as a system planning engineer at Consolidated Edison. Vesey has previously served on the boards of PG&E and AGL Energy, among others.

Vesey holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in economics both from Union College. He also earned a master’s degree in applied science from New York University.

Bruce Smith has more than 30 years of leadership experience in manufacturing operations, having led numerous companies and has a history of driving business and financial outperformance. He is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Detroit Manufacturing Systems (DMS), a Tier 1 component manufacturer for global automotive brands with approximately $1 billion in annual revenue.

Prior to joining DMS, Smith worked closely with leading private equity firms and entrepreneurs, holding key executive management positions, including president and CEO of BTM Company, a global leader of precision-engineered tooling and production equipment. Earlier in his career, he served as president and CEO of Elyria & Hodge Foundries, president and COO of Guilford Mills, president and CEO of automotive supplier Piston Group, and president and COO of United Plastics Group.

Smith has an MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Steve Shindler has been a member of Nikola’s Board of Directors and chair of Nikola’s audit committee since October 2020.

Shindler is a Director of NII Holdings, Inc. a holding company that previously owned providers of wireless communication services under the Nextel brand in Latin America. From 2018 – June 2020, Shindler served as chief financial officer of VectoIQ Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company focused on opportunities in the industrial technology, transportation, and smart mobility industries.

Previously, Shindler served as CEO of NII from 2012 until August of 2017, as well as from 2000 to 2008. He successfully transformed NII from a start-up operation into a leading wireless provider with nearly 11.5 million subscribers. In recent years, he oversaw a financial restructuring of the company that included sales of its core businesses in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Shindler joined Nextel Communications, Inc. in 1996 as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Shindler graduated with a bachelor of arts in economics degree from the University of Michigan and earned his masters of business administration from Cornell University.

Mark Russell most recently served as CEO of Nikola Corporation, a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions, before retiring in November 2022.

Before joining Nikola, Russell served as president and chief operating officer of Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) from 2012 to 2018, and prior to that served as president of Worthington subsidiary Worthington Steel since 2007. Worthington is a leading manufacturing company with significant automotive focus, supplying makers of more than 50 different components including frames, wheels, suspension systems, transmissions and drivetrains.

Before Worthington, Russell was CEO of Russell & Associates from 2004 to 2007, a group formed to acquire aluminum products companies. From 2002 to 2004, he served as CEO of Indalex Inc., which was then North America’s largest independent aluminum extruder. Earlier he had served as a corporate development manager, and then as general manager of engineered aerospace products for Alcoa (now Arconic) from 1999 to 2002.

After receiving an integrated studies degree from Weber State University in 1987, Russell earned a JD from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1990. Since 2009, he has served as a member of the National Advisory Council of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School.

Mary Petrovich has been a member of Nikola’s board of directors since December 2020 and the chairperson of Nikola’s Compensation Committee since July of 2021.

Petrovich is an accomplished entrepreneur with a passion for disruptive technologies and leading innovation. She is the senior operating executive for The Carlyle Group and has served as the chairman and CEO of two highly successful Carlyle portfolio companies in the industrial and transportation sectors.

Currently, Petrovich chairs two VC-backed technology start-ups: Traxen, a leading software development company focused on devising AI-enabled autonomous driving technology for the Class-8 truck market, and Xeeva, a supply chain software leader applying artificial intelligence to identify the widest spectrum of cost savings and expedite those globally. She also serves as active chairman of DealerShop, the leading buying group in North America for over 3,000 dealerships and collision centers.

Her formative years were spent in manufacturing, engineering, and financial leadership roles at companies including General Motors, Chrysler, and AlliedSignal.

Petrovich earned a master’s in business administration degree from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.

Gerrit Marx has been a member of Nikola’s board of directors since September 2019 and a member of Nikola’s compensation committee since October 2019.

Marx has served as chief executive officer of Iveco, a commercial goods manufacturing company, since March 2019 and as president of commercial and specialty vehicles of CNHI (Nasdaq: CNHI), an industrial goods manufacturing company, since January 2019. Prior to joining CNHI, Marx served as an operating partner Bain Capital, a global private equity firm, from December 2012 to December 2018.

Marx served as interim CEO of Wittur Holding GmbH, an elevator component manufacturing company, from May 2017 to March 2018 and as interim president of power tools of Apex Tool Group, LLC, a hand and power tool manufacturing company, from November 2014 to April 2015.

He received a master of engineering equivalent in mechanical engineering and an MBA equivalent from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and a doctorate in business administration from Cologne University, Germany.

Mike Mansuetti has been a member of Nikola’s board of directors since September 2019 and a member of Nikola’s audit committee since October 2019.

Since July 2012, Mansuetti has been the president of Robert Bosch LLC, an automotive component supply company. In this role, Mansuetti works with Bosch’s business units and sales organizations to guide the company’s growth in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, with a focus on mobility solutions, cross-divisional sales, and new business field development.

Mansuetti is immediate past chair of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) and a member of the board of directors of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). He is a member of the Consumer Technology Association Executive Board, and serves on the Advisory Board for the Clemson University College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences.

Mansuetti received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild has been a member of Nikola’s board of directors since February 2022 and is a member of the Sustainability, Nominating and Governance Committee.

Forester de Rothschild is a founder, managing partner, and member of the Management Committee of Inclusive Capital Partners. Previously, Forester de Rothschild founded and is the chair of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, and serves as the co-chair of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican, each a not-for-profit that develops initiatives with global CEOs and leaders in government and civil society to catalyze actions that transform capitalism, seeking to make economies and societies more inclusive, dynamic and sustainable.

Since 2000, Forester de Rothschild has been a member of the Board of Directors and Nominating & Governance Committee of The Estee Lauder Companies. She has also served on the boards of The Economist Group, Gulfstream, General Instruments, Bronfman-Rothschild and Weather Central.

In addition, she served as a member of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board under President Clinton, and as a member of the United Nations Advisory Committee on Inclusive Financial Services.

She graduated magna cum laude and beta kappa from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. and from Columbia University School of Law, with a juris doctor degree with honors.

Stephen J. Girsky serves as managing partner of VectoIQ, LLC, an independent advisory firm based in New York. Girsky served as president and CEO of VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. I from its incorporation in January 2018 until the consummation of its business combination with Nikola Corporation in June 2020 and continues to serve as a member of Nikola’s board of directors (and since September 2020 has served as Chairman of the Board). He has more than 30 years of experience working with corporate board executives, labor leaders, OEM leaders, suppliers, dealers, and national policymakers.

Girsky served in a number of capacities at General Motors from November 2009 until July 2014, including vice chairman, having responsibility for global corporate strategy, new business development, global product planning and program management, global connected consumer/OnStar, and GM Ventures LLC, Global Research & Development and Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. Girsky served as chairman of the Adam Opel AG Supervisory Board and was president of GM Europe for a period of time. He was a special advisor to the CEO and CFO of General Motors Corporation from August 2005 to June 2006.

Girsky has also served as president of Centerbridge Industrial Partners, an affiliate of Centerbridge Partners, LP, and a multibillion-dollar investment fund. Mr. Girsky also previously served as managing director at Morgan Stanley and as senior analyst of the Morgan Stanley Global Automotive and Auto Parts Research Team. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was managing director of PaineWebber’s Automotive Group and worked as an analyst on the overseas financial staff of GM.

He is on the board of directors at Nikola Corporation, VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. II (a special purpose acquisition company), Brookfield Business Partners Limited, the general partner of Brookfield Business Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BBU; TSX BBU.UN), as well as two private companies, Clarios and Valens Semiconductor Ltd. He served on the General Motors Board of Directors following its emergence from bankruptcy in June 2009 until June 2016. He also served as the lead director of Dana Holdings Corp. from 2008 to 2009.

Girsky received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the University of California at Los Angeles and a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School.