With the start of trading on the Nasdaq, the 38-year-old engineer raised almost twelve billion US dollars from investors.
(Photo: Reuters)
new York
RJ Scaringe decided not to travel to New York last week. When his electric vehicle maker Rivian went public, the founder and CEO preferred to be with his employees at the Normal, Illinois plant and then get back to work as quickly as possible.
Because Scaringe has to deliver. The 38-year-old engineer raised almost twelve billion US dollars from investors when he started trading on the Nasdaq, up from 10.5 billion US dollars before that. The most prominent donors include the online retailer Amazon, which holds around 20 percent of Rivian, and the automaker Ford with twelve percent.
And Rivian has only just started delivering the first vehicles.
Scaringe, who has a PhD from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, opted for a two-pronged strategy. Rivian will produce electric vans for Amazon, which the two companies are jointly developing. Amazon has already ordered 100,000 vehicles that will be delivered by 2030. More could follow. At the same time, the start-up, headquartered in Irvine, California, produces the R1T pick-up truck and the R1S SUV for the mass market.
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This strategy is well received by investors. The stock has gained 25 percent since going public, catapulting Rivian to a market capitalization of $ 111 billion. This makes Scaringe’s company the second most valuable American automaker behind Elon Musk’s Tesla. For comparison: General Motors has a market value of 92 billion US dollars.
Switch to mass production as quickly as possible
Scaringe, who has become a billionaire himself with Rivian, can use the funds well. “There are around a billion vehicles in the world, all of which will have to be electrified in the next ten to 15 years,” he made clear on the US stock exchange channel “Bloomberg TV” last week. Rivian wants to do his part and therefore has to switch to mass production as quickly as possible.
The founder is seen as the opposite of Elon Musk. Scaringe seems cautious, speaks in a calm voice, does not allow herself to be lured out of reserve. Unlike the Tesla boss, he is relatively reluctant to be involved on Twitter and is reluctant to talk about political issues.
Still, Scaringe has to solve many of the problems that Musk also struggled with. “Rivian now has to switch from start-up mode to mass production while ensuring consistent manufacturing quality,” says Christian König, who advises manufacturers and suppliers on everything related to electromobility. Musk once referred to the process as “Production Hell”.
The Tesla boss, who cultivates a rivalry with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos via Twitter, also started a discussion about Rivian’s chances of success after the IPO. “There have been hundreds of auto start-ups, both with electric and internal combustion engines, but Tesla is the only US manufacturer that has had high production volumes and positive cash flow over the past 100 years,” said Musk. Whether Rivian will also succeed is “the real test”.
Musk and Scaringe also quarrel in court. Tesla sued Rivian last summer. Musk accuses the competitor of having deliberately poached employees who then bring business secrets with them to Rivian. Scaringe denies the allegations. A former Rivian executive filed a discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, accusing him of having a “toxic”, male-dominated corporate culture.
Scaringe also denied that and emphasized: “I spend a lot of time building up the culture in our company. That is the most important thing. ”Scaringe is now looking for suitable locations for new plants. One in Texas is under discussion, according to media reports it is also exploring possibilities in Europe. He left it open for the time being whether he, like Musk, would be drawn to Germany.
More: The electric car maker Rivian is completely overvalued on the stock market. A comment.