The shares of Electric Last Mile SolutionsAfter the unexpected resignations of both CEO and chairman of EV startup, Wednesday’s stock plummeted by over 50%

Late-Tuesday: The company saidFollowing an internal investigation of the share buys made by its cofounders prior to it going public via a special purpose acquisition firm in June, ELMS CEO James Taylor, and Chairman Jason Luo resigned.

This controversy concerns EV start ups who went public via SPAC transactions. Similar problems led to other executive expulsions and investigations by both the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission.

Intraday trading on Wednesday saw shares of ELMS fall by up to 53%, before closing at $2.71 per share. This was 51.5% less than the previous close.

ELMS stated that an internal investigation conducted by a committee of the board revealed that Taylor and Luo purchased stock at significant discounts from market value shortly before the company’s December 2020 announcement. This was without obtaining an independent valuation.

Diverse equity analysts downgraded the stock Wednesday, including Jeffrey Osborne of Cowen and D.A. Davidson & Co.’s Michael Shlisky. Both men cited loss of senior executives as the reason for downgrades, rather than internal problems within the company.

ELMS did not comment on the investigation other than in a press release or a public filing to SEC.

According to the release Taylor and Luo will remain in consulting positions with ELMs.

Shauna Mckee, an ex-chief of staff in Google’s Consumer Electronics Division, was elected interim CEO. Brian Krzanich (ex-CEO of CDK Global automotive software provider) was elected chairman.

– CNBC’s Michael BloomThis report was contributed by you.