Investment in Nikola	3 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2021
Equity Method Investments And Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Investment in Nikola	NOTE C – Investment in Nikola On June 3, 2020 (the “Effective Date”), Nikola Corporation (“Nikola”) became a public company through a reverse merger with a subsidiary of VectoIQ Acquisition Corporation, a NASDAQ listed publicly traded company. Prior to the Effective Date, the Company held an equity interest in the predecessor company, which was converted to 19,048,020 shares of Nikola common stock. During the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company recognized a $796,141,000 pre-tax gain consisting of $508,511,000 of realized gains from the sale or contribution of 12,000,000 of its Nikola shares, and an unrealized mark-to-market gain of $287,630,000 related to the 7,048,000 Nikola shares the Company continued to own at August 31, 2020. The Company also recognized in operating income $49,511,000 of incremental expenses related to the Nikola gains, comprised of $28,858,000 for discretionary profit sharing and bonus expenses and $20,653,000 for the contribution of 500,000 shares of Nikola common stock to the Worthington Industries Foundation to establish a charitable endowment focused on the communities in which the Company operates.

Investment in Nikola

3 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2021

Equity Method Investments And Joint Ventures [Abstract]

NOTE C – Investment in Nikola

On June 3, 2020 (the “Effective Date”), Nikola Corporation (“Nikola”) became a public company through a reverse merger with a subsidiary of VectoIQ Acquisition Corporation, a NASDAQ listed publicly traded company. Prior to the Effective Date, the Company held an equity interest in the predecessor company, which was converted to 19,048,020 shares of Nikola common stock.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company recognized a $796,141,000 pre-tax gain consisting of $508,511,000 of realized gains from the sale or contribution of 12,000,000 of its Nikola shares, and an unrealized mark-to-market gain of $287,630,000 related to the 7,048,000 Nikola shares the Company continued to own at August 31, 2020. The Company also recognized in operating income $49,511,000 of incremental expenses related to the Nikola gains, comprised of $28,858,000 for discretionary profit sharing and bonus expenses and $20,653,000 for the contribution of 500,000 shares of Nikola common stock to the Worthington Industries Foundation to establish a charitable endowment focused on the communities in which the Company operates.