Lordstown Motors Announces Leadership Transition

Angela Strand, Lead Independent Director, appointed Executive Chairwoman

Becky Roof, appointed Interim CFO

CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez resign from Company

LORDSTOWN, Ohio, June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lordstown Motors Corp. (Nasdaq: RIDE), (“Lordstown Motors” or the “Company”), a leader in electric light duty trucks focused on the commercial fleet market, today announced several changes to its executive management team as the Company begins to transition from the R&D and early production phase to the commercial production phase of its business.

To that end, Lordstown Motors Lead Independent Director Angela Strand has been appointed Executive Chairwoman of the Company, and will oversee the organization’s transition until a permanent CEO is identified, and Becky Roof, will serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer. Steve Burns has resigned as Chief Executive Officer and from the Company’s Board of Directors, and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez has also resigned. All changes are effective immediately and the Company has engaged an executive search firm to identify a permanent CEO and CFO.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, David Hamamoto stated, “Lordstown Motors has achieved significant milestones on the path to developing the first and best full-size all-electric pickup truck, the Lordstown Endurance. We thank Steve Burns for his passion and commitment to the company. As we transition to the commercial stage of our business – with planned commencement of limited production in late-September – we have to put in place a seasoned management team with deep experience leading and operating publicly-listed OEM companies. We have complete confidence in Angela and Becky, and our expanded leadership team, to effectively guide the company during this interim period.”

The Company has further augmented 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. Mr. Schmidt was promoted to President in November having previously served as Lordstown’s Chief Production Officer. He has over 30 years of automotive industry expertise, including experiences at Toyota and Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, J.D. Power, and Tesla Motors.
• Jane Ritson-Parsons, formerly Lordstown Motors Interim Chief Brand Officer, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer. Jane is a highly experienced senior global executive with demonstrated leadership and revenue building success with a successful track record most recently at Hasbro Inc as their Group Executive, Global Marketing.