Palantir-Backed EV Maker Faraday Future Overhauls Leadership Structure In Aftermath Of Short-Seller Allegations

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc FFIE on Tuesday announced it has elevated a board member as company’s executive chairperson, slashed payouts of two top executives and suspended a vice president.

What Happened: The leadership restructuring at the pre-production electric vehicle maker follows the closure of an internal investigation that was spurred by a short-seller report last year alleging the company is a scam and that it would never sell a car.

Faraday Future said the remedial actions are being taken to enhance oversight and corporate governance.

The Actions: The Los Angeles, California-based Faraday Future named Susan Swenson as executive chairperson, a newly created position at the company. Swenson will step down from her current independent board member role.

Faraday Future CEO Carsten Breitfield and founder Yueting Jia would report directly to Swenson, the company said in a regulatory filing, adding that the two executives will receive a 25% reduction in annual base salary.

The company also said Brian Krolicki will step down from his role as chairman and vacate his board position that he held at the company. 

Faraday Future said it is suspending Jiawei Wang from his position of vice president, global capital markets, until further notice.

See Also: Palantir-Backed EV Maker Faraday Future Dubbed The 'New EV Scam In Town' By Short Seller: What You Need To Know

Why It Matters: Activist short-seller J Capital Research had in October alleged that the recently-listed EV SPAC invented most of its bookings and has failed to deliver a single car.

Faraday Future went public in a $1 billion SPAC deal early this year and began trading on the Nasdaq. It is backed by data analytics company Palantir Technologies PLTR, which invested $25 million in its PIPE.

Faraday Future had in December said it plans to begin production of the FF91 electric vehicles in the spring of 2022. 

J Capital Research’s co-founder Anne Stevenson-Yang had then told Benzinga that her views on the company remain unchanged as it has been “playing this game, making announcements then reneging a year later,” with the aim to “capture investment capital — which disappears into the pockets of management of sinks into the mysterious sands of China.”

Price Action: FFIE shares closed 6.5% higher at $4.56 a share on Tuesday. The stock was down 1.3% in after hours and has plummeted nearly 25% YTD.

Photo: Courtesy of Faraday Future