Lordstown Motors Corp. company founder Steve Burns has resigned as chief executive officer as well as from the company’s board of directors. The company’s chief financial officer, Julio Rodriguez, also resigned.

To that end, Lordstown Motors Lead Independent Director Angela Strand has been appointed as executive chairwoman of the company, and will oversee the organization’s transition until a permanent CEO is identified. Becky Roof will serve as interim chief financial officer.

All changes are effective immediately and the company has engaged an executive search firm to identify a permanent CEO and CFO.

The resignations took place shortly after the results of the investigation were revealed, conducted by a special committee of its board of directors into the report published by Hindenburg Research on March 12 (the “Hindenburg Report”). The Hindenburg Report stated, among other things, that Lordstown Motors had made various misstatements about demand for its Endurance pick-up truck, the viability of the technology utilized in the Endurance and its ability to start production of the Endurance in September 2021. In response, the Lordstown Motors board of directors established a special committee of independent directors to investigate the allegations made in the Hindenburg Report. The members of the special committee are David T. Hamamoto, Jane Reiss, and Dale Spencer. The special committee engaged Sullivan & Cromwell LLP to conduct the investigation.

The company also made additional changes to its executive team. Key individuals, along with their roles and responsibilities, include:

• Rich Schmidt, president of Lordstown Motors, will continue to oversee all day-to-day operations, including manufacturing and engineering.
• Jane Ritson-Parsons, formerly Lordstown Motors interim chief brand officer, has been appointed chief operating officer.
• Carter Driscoll, formerly Lordstown Motors head of investor relations, has been promoted to vice president, corporate development, capital markets and investor relations.
• Tom Canepa, general counsel; Shane Brown, chief production officer; Darren Post, vice president of engineering; and John Vo, vice president of propulsion, will all remain in their current roles.

Strand is presently the managing director of Strand Strategy, an advisory firm specializing in technology, business strategy and organization development across multiple sectors working with corporate board executives, investors, suppliers, and policymakers.