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Lordstown Motors names CFO

Adam B. Kroll served at NY’s Hyzon Motors

LORDSTOWN — Lordstown Motors Corp. has appointed the former chief administrative officer of Hyzon Motors, a New York-based maker of hydrogen fuel cell-powered commercial vehicles, as the electric-vehicle startup’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Adam B. Kroll will replace Becky Roof, who was made interim CFO in June following the sudden resignations of former CFO Julio Rodriguez and founder and CEO Steve Burns.

Roof will remain with Lordstown Motors in a transitional role through Dec. 31.

No reason was given for the resignations of Rodriguez and Burns, but their stepping down coincided with an admission by the company that statements regarding preorders for its flagship vehicle, the Endurance truck, were inaccurate.

Board director Angela Strand was tapped interim CEO until August, when Lordstown Motors appointed automotive industry veteran Daniel A. Ninivaggi chief executive.

Kroll’s “deep understanding of the automotive industry and experience in financial operations and strategy will have an immediate impact” in bringing the Endurance to market and completing the company’s partnership with Foxconn, Ninivaggi said in a release Wednesday announcing the new CFO.

Foxconn, the Taiwanese tech giant best known for making Apple’s iPhone, and Lordstown Motors are negotiating an agreement that would have Lordstown Motors sell its manufacturing plant — the former General Motors assembly plant — to Foxconn for $230 million.

Foxconn would become the contract manufacturer of the Endurance. The sides have an agreement in principle in place that also calls for Foxconn, in part, to invest $50 million into Lordstown Motors.

The deal also could mean the production of a second electric vehicle at the plant, California-based Fisker’s PEAR (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution).

Fisker and Foxconn finalized an agreement in May to assemble the vehicle. Fisker’s CEO, Henrik Fisker, told this newspaper if Foxconn and Lordstown Motors finalize the deal, it’s his intent to make the PEAR with Foxconn in Lordstown.

Kroll, 46, before his five months at Hyzon that ended in July, was interim CFO at UPG Enterprises, an Illinois-based operator of industrial companies that focus on metals, manufacturing, distribution and logistics. He was there from October 2020 to January.

Before that Kroll was at PSAV Holdings, a global event technology services provider for five years in various roles, including treasurer, head of corporate development and senior vice president of finance.

At Lordstown Motors, he will be paid $450,000 a year with an annual bonus target equal to 80 percent of his salary, according to regulatory documents also filed Wednesday.

He was given 200,000 stock options and 250,000 shares of Lordstown Motors stock that vest over three years.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Lordstown Motors team at this pivotal time,” Kroll said. “I look forward to working with Dan and the entire LMC team to bring the Endurance to market, develop our strategic partnership with Foxconn and execute on the company’s other key priorities. I believe LMC is uniquely positioned, with the team, the assets and focus to capitalize on the automotive industry’s transition to a better, greener future with the Endurance and other vehicles to come.”

Lordstown Motors stock closed trading at $5.23 per share, up 2.1 percent from Tuesday.

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