Q&A: Nikola CEO Steve Girsky envisions building a ‘hydrogen highway’
Nikola CEO Steve Girsky is charged up about taking the company to the next level.
When Steve Girsky joined General Motors in 2009, he recalls asking about Tesla and was told “it was a bunch of engineers playing with laptop batteries.”
It turns out Tesla actually had a 10-year jumpstart on the auto industry, Girsky told investors during Nikola’s third quarter earnings call in November. Tesla now has a market capitalization over $760 billion.
Girsky, a former Wall Street analyst and auto industry veteran, sees the same potential for Nikola Corp, a company he helped take public using a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2020.
He was named Nikola’s CEO in August, replacing Michael Lohscheller and in the process becoming the company’s fourth leader in as many years. He had served as Nikola’s board chair since September 2020, prior to taking the helm at the company’s C-suite.
Girsky is no stranger to helping companies overcome obstacles and regain a path toward profitability.
He was instrumental in GM’s emergence and overhaul of its European operations after the automaker’s bankruptcy filing and government bailout in 2009.
Girsky held several roles at GM from 2009 to 2014, including vice chairman, president of GM Europe and chairman of Adam Opel AG’s supervisory board. He served on GM’s board of directors until 2016.
Prior to his tenure with GM, Girsky was managing director at Morgan Stanley and senior analyst of the Morgan Stanley Global Automotive and Auto Parts Research Team.
Now, Girsky is looking to grow market share for Nikola’s hydrogen fuel-cell electric trucks — which generated nearly 300 orders since launching in September — as well as relaunch the company’s battery-electric trucks following a recall earlier this year.
Nikola plans to capitalize on industry tailwinds prompting adoption of zero-emission vehicles in California and lay the groundwork for what it describes as a future “hydrogen highway,” consisting of multiple hydrogen refueling stations and mobile refuelers to support its hydrogen fuel-cell trucks along freeway interchanges and freight routes in Southern California.
“I like it here. It’s a challenge. I tell people, ‘Every day is an amazing day at Nikola.’ Some are great, and some are less great, but every day there’s something going on and it’s exciting,” Girsky said. “That’s really the difference between a startup — an emerging tech company — and a big company with 200,000 employees. It’s a much more frenetic pace because we’re trying to get something done in a timeframe that others won’t do. And we’re trying to get something done big picture-wise that others won’t do.”
What prompted your career transition from Wall Street analyst to an auto industry executive?
I was the assistant to an analyst at Paine Webber. Coming out of college, I worked two years covering the auto sector and went back to business school. Then, out of business school, (the Paine Webber analyst) ended up retiring and I took her place. I later spent the bulk of my time at Morgan Stanley.
I always loved the auto industry because there was so many facets of it: American manufacturing, the American labor movement, marketing, globalization. It was so fascinating. It’s such a large industry and affects so many people, so it’s really fun to dig into.
Why did you choose to join Nikola?
“…We did the SPAC deal that raised a lot of money for the company back in 2020 and I thought Nikola was a big idea then. I still think it’s a big idea. I think Class 8 trucks are roughly 5% of the vehicles on the road and roughly 20-plus percent of the CO2 emissions and that was an area that wasn’t challenged yet. The big guys were taking their time because they’re big companies. I know how big companies work. They were putting prototypes on the road, but they will always say hydrogen is late decade type stuff. When big companies say late decade, it means not spending tons of time and money on it.
So, I thought there was a real opportunity here on the truck side and the downstream side … Here’s an opportunity where we’re going to supply the chicken and the egg, so to speak. We’re going to sell you a truck and we’re going to provide you with hydrogen alongside of it, and we’re going to create a zero emission solution for you.
What career lessons have you learned to prepare you for the CEO role at Nikola?
Wall Street was very analytical. It’s very exhilarating at times and it’s also very humbling at times, so you learn pretty quickly to try not to get so excited when things are spectacular because there’s always valleys.
And being steady and creating balance is super important, not just in business, but in life. GM coming out of bankruptcy was a very uncertain time. It’s important to have a plan, give people hope and have a strategy to get there.
Steve Girsky
Title: CEO
Company: Nikola Corp.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, UCLA; MBA from Harvard Business School
What do you like most about living in the Valley?
Hike, bike, play golf – It’s very accessible. If you like sports, outdoor recreation and good food, you have it here. What’s not to like about this place?
What are your favorite Valley restaurants?
For business meetings, Ocean 44 is great. For casual, my wife and I love the Herb Box.
What’s your favorite vehicle make and model?
I’m demoing a car that’s very nice. I think it’s a little big for my garage, but it’s a GMC Hummer EV.