Topics

Henrik Fisker quietly wound down his nonprofit after his EV startup went bankrupt

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise.

Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.

Most Popular

TransUnion says hackers stole 4.4 million customers’ personal information

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles

Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in Chrome

Google Translate takes on Duolingo with new language learning tools

Google Gemini’s AI

Robomart unveils new delivery robot with $3 flat fee to challenge DoorDash, Uber Eats

Coinbase CEO explains why he fired engineers who didn’t try AI immediately

Latest

Amazon

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

Cloud Computing

Commerce

Crypto

Enterprise

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

Gadgets

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

Hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

Security

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

Venture

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Newsletters

Podcasts

Videos

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

Henrik Fisker quietly wound down his nonprofit after his EV startup went bankrupt Sean O'Kane AM PDT · August 29, 2025 Henrik Fisker, the founder of failed EV startup Fisker Inc., and his wife Geeta quietly wound down a private charitable foundation established in late 2021 that was supposed to “incubate innovation in healthcare, education, sustainability, mobility, and all causes that help support the planet and improve and further the lives of people and animals.”

A tax filing submitted to the Internal Revenue Service in December 2024 — six months after Fisker Inc. went bankrupt — was marked as the foundation’s “final return.” The filing was made public earlier this year.

The Geeta & Henrik Fisker Foundation, as it was known, ultimately only made around $100,000 in grants across its three-year existence. Henrik Fisker did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The brief existence of the Fiskers’ foundation is another example of how the boom of electric vehicle startups in the 2020s — many of which went public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) mergers — helped fuel a rush of wide-eyed optimism.

When Rivian went public via a traditional IPO in 2021, it announced its own foundation, flush with 1% of the EV company’s equity. While that stake was worth around $643 million at one point, it eventually shrank to under $100 million. But the Rivian Foundation is still kicking. The nonprofit gave out its first $10 million in grants last year, and its website shows that the foundation has made another $2.2 million in donations to date across 2025.

The Fiskers created their foundation in late 2021, IRS filings show, roughly one year after the company went public

The company did not announce the establishment of the husband-and-wife team’s foundation until February 14, 2022. While the press release touted the $4 million figure,

Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOW The foundation did not make any grants that first fiscal year, filings show. When the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2022, the value of the shares had fallen to around $1.7 million.

Fisker’s stock price continued to slip as the company put its electric SUV into production in late 2022, began deliveries in mid-2023, and struggled to sell the flawed EV — all of which apparently limited the foundation’s scope.

In the foundation’s 2022 fiscal year (which ended on September 30, 2023), it made just one grant worth $92,287 to a JP Morgan “Charitable Gift Fund,” according to a filing. The Fiskers only contributed $9,500 in cash to the foundation that year, too, meaning the shares — the total value of which sunk again to around $1.4 million — were nearly all it had in terms of assets.

The most recent filing, which closes out the nonprofit, shows just one grant in the foundation’s final year: The Fiskers contributed another $1,988 to the same JP Morgan fund.

The Geeta & Henrik Fisker Foundation was not the couple’s only

The 2022 press release notes that the Fiskers “supported various causes, including those engaged in education and healthcare projects” since founding the EV startup in 2016.

The release also states that the Fiskers donated around $1.9 million worth of company stock in December 2021 to what’s known as a donor-advised fund (DAF). That donation came from the Fiskers’ personal trust, though, an SEC filing shows — not from the Geeta & Henrik Fisker Foundation. And neither the press release nor the SEC filing say which DAF received the shares.

DAFs are a somewhat controversial tool for philanthropic giving. While people who donate to DAFs can still dictate where those funds ultimately go, that information does not have to be revealed to the public. In the meantime, donating stock to a DAF can allow the person making the contribution to deduct the value of that stock from their taxes — even if the stock value sinks.

DAFs can also hang onto that money for an indiscriminate amount of time. It’s therefore impossible to know whether the DAF that received the $1.9 million in Fisker shares made any grants before or after the value of those shares sank.

Topics

Sean O'Kane Sr.

Sean O’Kane is a

You can contact or verify outreach from Sean

October 27-29, 2025 San Francisco Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025. Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor does.

Most Popular TransUnion says hackers stole 4.4 million customers’ personal information Zack Whittaker

Get ready, EV owners: Here come the dongles Tim De Chant

Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in Chrome Maxwell Zeff

Google Translate takes on Duolingo with new language learning tools Aisha Malik

Google Gemini’s AI Maxwell Zeff

Robomart unveils new delivery robot with $3 flat fee to challenge DoorDash, Uber Eats Rebecca Szkutak

Coinbase CEO explains why he fired engineers who didn’t try AI immediately Julie Bort

X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunchStaffContact UsAdvertiseCrunchboard JobsSite Map Terms of ServicePrivacy PolicyRSS Terms of UseCode of Conduct IntelDOGELibbySpotifyApple EventTech LayoffsChatGPT © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.