Lucid's Peter Rawlinson Suddenly Exits Without Attending Q4 Earnings Call: 'Untraditional To Make A Change Like This'

Peter Rawlinson has stepped aside from his prior roles as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Board of Director at Lucid Group Inc. LCID, the EV startup said in a statement on Tuesday.

What Happened: “Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid,” Rawlinson said in a statement.

Chief Operating Officer Marc Winterhoff has been appointed interim CEO while the company seeks to identify a new permanent CEO, the company said. Rawlinson, meanwhile, will transition to the role of Strategic Technical Advisor to the Chairman of the Board.

“I could probably spend the entire hour speaking to his accomplishments, but above all, Peter put together an incredible team to advance the company’s mission, and I’m honored to lead this team into the next phase of its journey,” Winterhoff said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call after market close on Tuesday.

Rawlinson did not attend the call, raising questions. “Peter’s not on the call. It’s a bit untraditional to make a change like this without having the founder involved with the transition call,” Bank of America Securities analyst John Murphy said.

The Future Fund Managing Partner Gary Black echoed the sentiment in a post on social media platform X. "It's highly unusual for a CEO to step down amicably before earnings and not be given an opportunity to provide a farewell on the earnings call… That $LCID will search for a permanent CEO in the interim is also unusual if Rawlinson is capable of remaining in the role as CEO," he said.

Black speculated that either medical reasons or personal issues may have prompted Rawlinson's sudden departure.

Rawlinson’s New Role: Regarding Rawlinson’s new role, Winterhoff said that the former CEO will not be part of day-to-day business at the company but if there are questions arising, Rawlinson will be involved. “But it’s up to the discretion of the chairman to have that interaction,” the interim CEO said.

Rawlinson will not be involved in finalizing the design of the midsize that the company intends to start production in late 2026 either, he added.

According to Rawlinson’s LinkedIn profile, he was the Chief Engineer for Tesla Inc.’s Model S before he moved to Lucid as Chief Technology Officer. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously refuted Rawlinson’s position at Tesla. Musk alleges that Rawlinson joined the company after the Model S prototype phase and left before production began.

Price Action: Lucid stock rose 9.6% after hours after closing down 6.1% on Tuesday after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 22 cents per share, better than the expected 27-cent loss. Quarterly revenue of $234.5 million beat estimates of $214.22 million.

Lucid stock is down 14% year-to-date, as of the last close, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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